Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says the US$1 billion multi-resort development – Sugar Cane Bay Jamaica – in Llandovery, St. Ann is back on track.

The St Ann mega-resort project is being led by Karisma Hotels and Resorts.

Bartlett says the co-founder of Karisma Hotels and Resorts gave him the update while at the Jamaica booth of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Mr Bartlett says construction is expected to start in August.

Mr Bartlett and Prime Minister, Andrew Holness had broken ground for the project in February 2020, two weeks prior to the global shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project stalled.

The resort, spread across a 226-acre property, was projected to add 4,700 new rooms in the tourism sector.

The landmark investment was to create over 10,000 new permanent jobs, attract approximately 375,000 visitors annually, and pump billions of dollars in revenues into the local economy.

Mr Bartlett underscores the need to prepare the country for the new wave of tourism development now underway.