By Claudia Gardner:
The 2037-room All Inclusive Princess Jamaica Resort which is set for construction in Green Island, Hanover, will be up for discussion when Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett attends the annual FITUR international travel and tourism tradeshow which begins this Wednesday, in Madrid, Spain.
During the event, which is the largest gathering of tourism professionals globally, Bartlett is set to meet with Robert Cabrera, owner of the family-owned Princess Hotels and Resorts chain, regarding the Green Island resort, for which initial works have already commenced.
The Princess Jamaica Resort, will be located 10 minutes away from Negril, and will be built at a cost of US$500 million dollars (J$77.5 billion), and, upon completion, will be the first hotel of the Spain-headquartered hotel chain in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Princess Hotels already has 23 hotels spanning the Canary Islands, Barcelona, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
Bartlett, who left the island on Saturday, January 15 and will return on Saturday, January 23. While in Spain, he is also expected to meet with potential investors and key industry stakeholders during the event, which runs from January 19 to 23, among them, representatives of RIU Hotel which operates two hotels in Negril, the RIU Negril and the RIU Tropical Bay.
Princess Hotels and Resorts Limited acquired approximately 180 acres of land in Green Island a few years ago, from Hanoverian businessmen from the lush, seaside town, known for a smattering of gorgeous beaches such as Half Moon Beach and Rhodes Hall Plantation.
The resort is to be constructed on a total of approximately 84 of the 180 acres and will consist of a combination of four separate hotel blocks, fourteen overwater searooms and a Casino. The first phase of will consist of 1,012 rooms and the second 1,025 rooms.
Each of the four hotel blocks is projected to serve a different clientele and will range from adult-only packages to what the hoteliers describe as family fun parks and public beach clubs. According to the hoteliers, in each phase, one of the two hotels will be for adults only.
Princess Jamaica Resort will be in the “5 Stars Grand Luxury” category and will be constructed in two phases.
It is expected that the two hotel blocks which will make up each phase, will work operationally as a single hotel, with one centralized kitchen, one industrial area, one warehouse area, one personnel area.
Over-water rooms
As for the 14 over-water rooms, these will be built to the eastern end of the property with utilities supplied from the main hotel property and will be routed under the boardwalk in watertight piping.
Casino
The hotel will also have a two-floor casino which will be designed as an independent building inside the resort. It will be separated from the hotels, with its own access and vehicle parking area.
On the ground floor of the casino reception and play area which will be approximately 2,000 square metres, there will be toilets, a bar and an administration area.
Water Supply Concerns
Concerns have been raised over the water consumption of the hotel, which many Hanoverians and Westmorelites feared will strain the Logwood Water Supply system, and deprive Negril, Lucea and surrounding communities of potable water.
The Logwood Treatment Plant which is located a few miles away from the hotel site, is expected to supply the property with approximately 800,000 gallons of potable water daily. However, the plant also supplies the resort area of Negril with water, with some areas having to truck water periodically.
However, amidst the concerns, the developers outlined during the Environmental Impact Assessment presentation in 2020, that a water storage tank “three times the demand for the total 2037 rooms”, would be built to meet the needs of drinking water and firefighting, and that at a later date they would make an application to allow them to drill a well on the property which would be capable of providing water through reverse osmosis using the underground brackish water.
Construction phases
The construction of the first phase of the Princess Jamaica Resort was initially anticipated to take between 18 and 24 months, followed by a one-year break, after which second-phase construction would commence and finish within a similar 18 to 24 months.
In terms of the work force during the resort’s construction phase, the hoteliers had projected that it “will take approximately 1,500 trade men” and that labourers should range from 700 to 1500 during the period.
Based on projections, it is expected that the construction phase should create approximately 2,660 to 5,700 indirect and induced jobs.
The hoteliers also stated within the Environmental Assessment Impact document that “to the extent practicable, Princess Hotels and Resorts will utilise local skills and labour for construction and operation of the hotel”.
Once fully operational, Princess Hotels and Resorts expects to employ approximately 2,852 persons. According to them, the expected staffing for the operational phase of approximately 2,582 persons should result in approximately 4,763 indirect and 1,797 induced jobs.
