Dont Abandon Our Heritage Sites Joe Issa Agrees

Fort Rocky, an abandoned fort located on the Palisadoes strip near Port Royal has been chosen as Jamaica’s first entertainment zone and Joe Issa, who frequently comments on measures aimed at making.

Fort Rocky, an abandoned fort located on the Palisadoes strip near Port Royal has been chosen as Jamaica’s first entertainment zone and Joe Issa, who frequently comments of measures aimed at making Kingston live up to its image as the entertainment capital of the world, agrees.

“I think it’s an excellent site for a great idea. It’s a disused fort, and therefore, it has heritage-site potential. It’s located in an area that forms part of the Kingston environment, particularly downtown across the harbour, which has been the focus of a rejuvenation development thrust to go along with Times’ accolade of the must-visit city this year and its designation of being the entertainment capital of the world.

“The area is also suited for entertainment because it’s not too far from the centres of the population yet far enough to escape the constraints of the Noise Abatement Act,” said Issa, who once operated the Rockfort Pier across the harbour from the site of the entertainment zone.

According to the Jamaica Observer, Minister of Culture, Gender Affairs, Entertainment, and Sport, Olivia Grange, made the announcement at a recent press launch for Carnival in Jamaica " branded partnership undertaken by the ministries of culture and tourism, to promote Jamaica's carnival season which kicks off November 11 with the launch of Xaymaca International.

Grange reportedly assured that Fort Rocky was endorsed by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) as well as the Town and Country Planning Authority.

“We are working with the environment and planning agency and the ministry's agencies, including the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, to ensure that our cultural heritage sites are preserved and utilised in a manner that derives the cultural and economic value to us as a nation,” she was quoted saying.

She is said to have pointed out that the entertainment zones are defined as “concentrated nightlife districts occupying the margins of downtowns, in former commercial and industrial areas, underutilised retail corridors or underdeveloped waterfronts”.

She noted that in the United States, entertainment zones are usually located within urban sprawls, similar to Jamaica’s pilot proposal to erect entertainment zones within the central downtown Kingston district, the paper reported.

It said, “former minister of state for entertainment Damion Crawford, first announced plans for the opening up of the entertainment zones in 2013, after show promoters and other entertainment industry stakeholders raised issues about holding events without fear of being shut down prematurely by the police.”

Grange noted that Jamaica’s creative economy is a US$2.5-trillion industry that never slows down, stating “it is a 24-hour industry and, as such, we must develop the systems and the mechanism to enable its ordered growth and development in Jamaica,” she is quoted saying.

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, who was the other guest speaker at the function, is said to have also welcomed the development, noting that “Jamaica has long been known for its musical entertainment…With the effort to combine the local carnival events, Jamaica could now boast of having a carnival of its own that measures up to any other in the Caribbean.”

He informed that “it is against that background that his ministry acquired the Carnival in Jamaica brand, in keeping with its mandate to enhance seasonal events, including carnival…The Tourism Linkages Network through its sports and entertainment network agreed that investment in an overarching brand to promote the local carnival experience was critical.”

He reportedly said, “the launch of Carnival in Jamaica 2018 signalled that the country was taking it seriously, and is determined that it should become as well known and widely supported as other carnivals which attract thousands of visitors.”