Since It Doesn’t Meet Their Requirements, Why Are The Goat Islands Still Being Considered?

They’re 617 acres combined and were transferred from the Commissioner of Lands on September 21, 1970 to the Urban Development Corporation. Can you guess what they are? Can you? THE GOAT ISLANDS! (Apparently there are two islands with the first being 465 acres, one rood and six perches while the 2nd island is 152 acres, two roods and 77 perches). A rood is A measure of land equal to 1/4 acre, or 40 square rods (0.10 hectare) and a perch is a linear measure equal to 5.50 yards or 16.5 feet (5.03 meters); a rod.

Sure you have heard that the government of Jamaica is having talks with the Chinese government to construct a trans-shipment port on the islands, as a part of the Jamaican government’s initiative to launch its Logistics Hub project.

But, the geography of the Goat Islands do not meet the criteria put forth by China Harbour Construction & Engineering Company for the successful construction of the port. As Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter for the Gleaner reports;

“The available acreage at Goat Islands, which China Harbour Construction and Engineering Company wants for the construction of a trans-shipment port and industrial park, is less than the desired amount of the lands the Chinese are seeking for the project.”

The archipelago, located off the coast of Old Harbour, St Catherine, which is the property of the Urban Development Corporation, has 617 acres, which is far less than the 3,000 acres which Robert Pickersgill, the minister of land, environment and climate change, said is needed for the development.

If the Goat Islands are not a befitting home for the trans-shipment port, why are they still being considered as a possible site? If you know, please enlighten us in the comments section below.

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