The Editor, Sir:

I would like to take this opportunity to add my voice to those who are calling for the Trelawny Stadium to be released to the University of Technology (UTech) as a tertiary educational facility for western Jamaica.

It is a travesty that the procrastination around this decision with no apparent explanation or good reason other than, we would guess, politics and power broking has, this year alone, deprived 2,000 students from western Jamaica of an opportunity at tertiary education, something desperately needed to build industry and commerce in the region.

As I write, our company, Barnett Limited, is moving forward with a US$300 million ICT tech park development that will in three to five years have the potential to create at least 8,000 jobs in the sector. However, our greatest challenge is to find enough suitably trained individuals who can fill these positions. This is a task, I may add, that according to the leadership of UTech, is completely attainable if it was able to expand its facility in western Jamaica.

Trained human resources critical

Add to this the Falmouth port development and it becomes obvious that the need for well educated and trained human resources is critical. Without the educated manpower, there is a great chance that much of this investment will be stymied and be prevented from reaching its full potential, and at worst, come to naught, as these industries are unable to provide a competitive edge due to a lack of skilled human resources.

I am, therefore, imploring the Government to release the Trelawny Stadium to UTech without delay for the sake of developing Jamaica and Jamaicans. As mentioned earlier, this indecision has already, this year deprived 2,000 young and enthusiastic Jamaicans of further education and contributing to the recovery of their nation. Do not kill their zeal and energy by perpetuating this untenable position.

I am, etc.,

Mark Kerr-Jarrett, J.P.

Managing Director

Barnett Limited