LUCEA, HANOVER — Hanover’s tourism runway is being lengthened by thousands of new hotel rooms, yet a 250-year-old coastal fortress still can’t get clearance for take-off — and all that’s missing is one pen stroke.
At Thursday’s commissioning of the upgraded Lord’s Multi-purpose Court in Malcolm Heights, Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) chief Wade Mars publicly urged Mayor Sheridan Samuels to sign municipal papers authorising restoration at Fort Charlotte, the Georgian-era stronghold that once protected Jamaica’s north-west flank. Mars reminded onlookers that TPDCo, with guidance from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, is ready to conserve the fort’s antique artillery and refit the grounds for tours, recreation, and community events. “Everything is teed up,” he said. “We just need the green light that sits on the mayor’s desk.”
Mayor Samuels shot back, labelling the appeal a political ploy. He maintains that the council had scheduled a technical review meeting — one TPDCo missed. “The delay isn’t in this office,” Samuels insisted, noting he skipped the court ceremony after receiving an invite only hours beforehand.
From playground to proving ground
The exchange briefly eclipsed the ribbon-cutting itself. Funded under the Spruce Up Jamaica programme and championed by Hanover Western MP Tamika Davis, the revamped complex features a resurfaced basketball-netball court adjoining a football pitch. Sanitation blocks and spectator seating are in the queue; until then, Bishop Robert Williams of Lucea New Testament Church of God has opened his church facilities to athletes and patrons — a gesture Mars pledged to repay by exploring tourism support for the church.
Davis framed the court as a “safe-space blueprint” for Hanoverian youth, while Richard Wallace, who chairs the Negril Area Destination Assurance Council, linked community wellness to visitor satisfaction: 16 per cent of Negril’s workforce lives in Hanover. “If home communities thrive, the hospitality sector performs,” he said.
Hotel cranes on the horizon
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, fresh from announcing Jamaica’s first casino-integrated resort for Green Island, forecast Hanover’s transformation into the country’s “new tourism nucleus.” Among the pipeline:
- Princess Hotels & Resorts, Green Island: 2,000 rooms plus casino floor
- Viva Wyndham, Rhodes Hall: 1,000 rooms
- Grand Palladium expansion, outside Lucea: nearly 1,000 luxury suites
Worker accommodation is also baked in, with 500 rooms at Princess and 600 homes financed by Palladium — a first for Jamaica’s tourism sector.
Why the fort matters now
With billions in private capital converging on Hanover, preservationists warn that neglecting Fort Charlotte would squander cultural capital precisely when demand for authentic Jamaican experiences is peaking. Each rainy season accelerates rust on the historic cannons, narrowing the window for cost-effective conservation.
Stakeholders agree on one point: the longer the stalemate lingers, the louder the contrast grows between Hanover’s hyper-modern resort skyline and a crumbling monument that helped secure the island’s past. One signature can reconcile both stories — but until it lands, Fort Charlotte remains stuck in neutral while the parish roars ahead.
