Photo 1: From left: Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Mona Campus, Professor Dale Webber (6th from left) leads ceremonial turning of the soil at the Groundbreaking Ceremony on March 22, 2019 at Fairfield on Barnett Estate, signaling the commencement of construction of The UWI Mona’s new Western Jamaica Campus. Joining him, (from left) are: Managing Director of Barnett Limited, Mr. Mark Kerr-Jarrett; Mayor of Montego Bay, His Worship, Councillor Homer Davis; Campus Registrar, Dr Camille Bell-Hutchinson; Member of Parliament for St James East Central and Minister of Tourism the Hon. Edmund Bartlett; Member of Parliament for West Central St. James and Attorney General, the Hon. Marlene Malahoo-Forte; the Deputy Principal, The UWI Mona, Professor Ian Boxill; Campus Director in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer and Campus Director for The UWI Mona Western Jamaica Campus, Dr Patrick Prendergast.

On Friday, March 22, 2019, the institution inched closer to these goals when ground was broken for the beginning of the development of The UWI Mona Western Jamaica Campus (The UWI-WJC) signaling access, by providing more tertiary opportunities in Western Jamaica; alignment, by the academic and industry partnership through collaboration with Barnett Limited and agility, as evidenced by another step toward the restoration of The UWI’s financial health.

Speaking at the Groundbreaking Ceremony hosted at the site in Fairfield, on Barnett Estate, Pro Vice- Chancellor and Principal of the Mona Campus, Professor Dale Webber said “the west has some unique contributions to Jamaica’s development and The UWI wants to be a part of those special contributions.”

According to Professor Webber, when The UWI-WJC was first imagined, it was intended replicate the success of the Mona Campus in Kingston. “Now as we expand our WJC by establishing our Barnett Site we have, in consultation and partnership with the Western Jamaica Community, taken the strategic approach of a niche Campus.”

Photo – 2 (L-R): Gabrielle Lee, Director, Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mr. Winston Dear, Chairman, Margaritaville Group of Companies; Mr. Winston Lawson – President, Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Notary Public and Consultant to DunnCox, Mr Christopher Bovell; Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Mona, Professor Dale Webber; Campus Director in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer and Managing Director of Barnett Limited, Mr. Mark Kerr-Jarrett; and Campus Director for The UWI Mona Western Jamaica Campus, Dr Patrick Prendergast pictured having a look at the model for The UWI Mona Western Jamaica Campus at the Groundbreaking Ceremony on Friday, March 26, 2019 at Fairfield on Barnett Estate.

The UWI-WJC: Unique Offerings

With its own unique offerings, The UWI-WJC will have a world Class School of Management (BPO, Financial and Tourism Management) MBA, Accounting and Global Tourism Sustainable Tourism. These are now being discussed with the Ministry of Tourism. Following on suggestions from stakeholders, The UWI Mona will be designing short courses that can be a ladder into Certificates, Diplomas, Degrees and the highest degrees of Masters and even PhDs.

“When we speak of access to education, we have a global view which sees The UWI positioning our students for international levels of learning, collaboration and exposure. The human capital of the present has to be deliberately prepared for the world of the future.

“This Barnett Site of our Western Jamaica Campus is the next exciting development in our westward expansion establishing a World Class School of Engineering (Pre Engineering ready to start 2019); Industrial, Chemical, Environmental, Aerospace – technical skillset for BPO Sector; JPSco, Airport & New Fortress already in our sights,” Professor Webber added.

Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, who was the keynote speaker at the Ceremony expressed his delight at the role of The UWI in the “re-imagination of Montego Bay.” The project, he said, has been a vision of his for several years. “To see this vision now become a reality under the leadership of Professor Dale Webber, augurs well for tourism and our human capital development strategy, he said.

The graduate school of tourism, Minister Bartlett believes, “will be an ideal complement for the training and certification that is already being done through our Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation which is the institute we established for professionalizing the industry so workers can have their competencies recognized through certification.”

Student Accommodation

In relation to student accommodation, The UWI-WJC will provide housing for 1000 students – starting with phase one, which will see 250 rooms in a 30,000 square feet facility to be completed in 2020.

Photo 3: (L-R): Campus Director for The UWI Mona Western Jamaica Campus, Dr Patrick Prendergast; Campus Director in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer; Managing Director of Barnett Limited, Mr. Mark Kerr-Jarrett; Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Mona Campus, Professor Dale Webber; Member of Parliament for St James East Central and Minister of Tourism the Hon. Edmund Bartlett; Member of Parliament for West Central St. James and Attorney General, the Hon. Marlene Malahoo-Forte; Mayor of Montego Bay, His Worship, Councillor Homer Davis; Campus Registrar, The UWI, Mona Campus, Dr. Camille Bell-Hutchinson; the Deputy Principal, The UWI Mona, Professor Ian Boxill; and Director and Company Secretary, Barnett Limited, Mrs. Paula Kerr-Jarrett.

Economic Opportunities

Speaking to the economic opportunities that abound in a project of this nature, Professor Webber said there is an undeniable set of direct and indirect economic opportunities that will come with this development.

The UWI, he said, never sees itself as merely occupying a space with the community, but as a major stakeholder. “We look forward to the mutually beneficial and positive engagement that will come with this new facility. At a time when our country grapples with serious challenges such as crime and corruption, we have revisited our strategy to ensure that we are both an oasis and solution incubator where a peaceful and productive present and future can be driven by a team of people connected by the value of thinking, innovating and using research to improve the quality of people’s lives.” 

About The UWI

For the past 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and four campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Asia, and Africa such as the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development, the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.