Business View Caribbean - March 2016 31
The houses were deliberately built in a way that al-
lowed homeowners to make additions or to add their
own personal tastes onto the basic units provided.
Intended mainly for middle and low-income workers,
the schemes allowed many people who would other-
wise not be able to afford a home, the opportunity to
work and pay for their own land over time. With a small
down payment, a family could acquire a unit, and as it
saved and earned more money, could build or expand
the house to suit its needs. That aspect of Portmore’s
development has remained consistent through the
years, and today one of the most distinctive features
of Portmore is the uniqueness of each house, each
street, and each neighborhood.
Over the years, the citizens lobbied the Government
for their own Municipality and in 2001 the City Council
was formed to create a model for Portmore. In 2003,
Portmore was granted Municipal status and became a
Municipality, unto itself. Today, it is the only Municipali-
ty with a directly-elected Mayor in the English-speaking
Caribbean.
Over the last decade, Portmore has grown from eight
municipal council divisions to twelve, and according to
its current Acting Mayor, Leon Thomas, it is still look-
ing to grow larger. “We have the land mass for any
major development that anyone would want to do in
Portmore,” he explains. “So, we are inviting people to
come on down and look to Portmore for investment.”
In its desire to attract new businesses, especially light
manufacturing, the Municipality advertises its friendly
zoning and speedy approval procedures.
Plans for future development include: the expansion
of port facilities; the construction of a world-class pri-
vate medical hospital, which will cater to both local and
foreign clients; a major bus hub that will occupy over
twelve acres; new Information Technology (IT) plants
in the Naggo Head area of the Municipality that will
provide hundreds of jobs; and additional housing de-
velopments to come on stream. According to Thomas,
