Vendors welcome ROK Hotel opening - Envision great things happening for Kingston

"Dung yah feel like foreign," raved vendor Nasheba Authers following the official opening of the ROK Hotel in downtown Kingston.

"Somebody all tell me seh out here look like Palm Beach a Miami. Mi nuh know if a because of the palm tree dem or wah but it have da vibe deh to me," she added. Locals have lauded this latest endeavour as a great move for the redevelopment of the capital city. Yesterday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, alongside Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett and Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke, attended the opening of the waterfront hotel. Authers and her mother Tanya Reid, who has been on the waterfront for the past eight years, sell their refreshments and snacks across the street from the new hotel. They told THE STAR that since the soft opening three weeks ago, they have experienced a boom in business.

"Di white people dem and di people dem weh come over here dem already start support we cause dem wah interact wid di street people. Dem come inna group, so when dem a buy, dem we buy all seven juice, or if a beer, dem buy all dozen," Authers said. Though generally happy for the development, Theresa, who operates her stall close by, is worried that the increased traffic could see her being displaced.

"Every time something happen dem move we. This morning when Brogad [Holness] come, dem send we all the way up deh so," she said. "Mi cyah worry doah cause me a 61 now. This woulda just be good time fi go lay down and relax." Reid, however, is happy for the new life that is being breathed into the area.

"For a long time now this area has been rated a gangster place because it is surrounded by a lot of garrison communities. But I think it's been better because some of the man dem buy out a lot of the garrison areas near the waterfront and turn them into car parks, so I think this is a good development and it's looking good," she said.

Ready for the city to return, and even surpass, its former glory, Dain Murray says he is excited to see what will come next.

"Is a good look fi Kingston as a whole. Just like all over the world, a waterfront property is always the highlight of every city. So dis a Kingston and this a go be our highlight of Kingston and we a expect fi see more investment, more development. UDC [Urban Development Corporation] a throw more money. We need some public restroom so people can come and eat some ice cream and go use the bathroom and nuh affi walk go all the way a town. None a that no really in place so that a some investment weh woulda like fi see. We affi always remember everybody. Everybody need fi get piece a it, inna any shape or form as long as a man nah thief or beg," he said.