Prime Minister Bruce Golding along with several Government Ministers, Members of Parliament, top government executives, mayors and community leaders , today toured St Mary making stops at the Boscobel Aerodrome, the North Coast Highway and a private medical facility at Pampano Bay.

He also took the time out to visit Mount Industry, in St Catherine, for a brief presentation to students there.

The first stop was the Boscobel Aerodrome which is being upgraded to accommodate increased flights and to handle immigration and custom clearance. Mr. Golding said the aerodrome was being upgraded to facilitate small and private jets as part of the decision to increase tourism activity in the area. He said one of the major challenges was the extension of the runway to 5,500 ft which is required to facilitate private jets. He said a report would be presented soon to indicate how this extension would be implemented.

His next stop was to examine work being done on the North Coast Highway. The Prime Minister said he was not satisfied with the pace at which construction had been taking place and that he had held discussions with the Minister of Transport and Works, Mike Henry, to ensure that the deadline for the completion of the road construction is met. Mr. Golding said the project is being financed by grant money provided by the European Union. A request has been made for the extension of the grant to June of next year. But he said he has made it clear to the contractors that they must accelerate the pace at which the work is being done in order meet the deadline so that the funding would not be jeopardized.