Gov't town hall meeting | Displaced residents will be accommodated nearby, says UDC chairman

Chairman of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), Ransford Braham, has told residents of Central Kingston that it is not the intention of the Government to move them out of their communities when the National Heroes Circle project begins. 

Braham said while there will be displacement of some residents to accommodate the project, those displaced will be relocated to other areas nearby. 

"[The area] is not finally designated, but [the residents] will be pretty close by to where they are at this time," Braham said, responding to a question from the audience of a town hall meeting Thursday evening at the National Heroes Park, Kingston. 

The UDC chairman was supported by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who said the idea of the relocation was not to take people out of their communities. 

"Buildings don't make a community, people make a community. The energy comes from the people who are here (Central Kingston) and who will come to live here - they form the community. 
"It is not the intention to sanitise, uproot and destroy an area," Holness said. 

He said the Government's intention is to provide infrastructure for the community to grow "organically".       

The prime minister also addressed concerns about whether the crab vendors in the vicinity will be displaced.

Underscoring their importance, he said those vendors will be accommodated in the master plan. However, he did not provide specifics.

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