Michael Lee Chin, the billionaire investor and the bank's chairman and principal shareholder, broke ground for the projects this week.

The bank will spend $247 million to build a new courthouse for the capital. It will spend another $120 million to restore the old courthouse which will house a branch of NCB and a museum. Building will begin next month with a 12-month completion target.

Lee Chin was born and grew up in Portland, and emigrated to Canada in the 1960s for university. There he formed AIC Management, a mutual fund management company which made him into a billionaire and one of Canada's wealthiest men.

Lee Chin is known to be very sentimental about Portland, and has been looking in the parish for investment opportunities from the time he bought the government's majority share in NCB over four years ago. He said the investment by NCB demonstrated "confidence in the parish of Portland and Jamaica".

The billionaire has among other areas, explored possibilities of joint projects with the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) which built a marina in the capital, and has been looking at various tourism projects.

It was therefore not surprising when the entrepreneur, speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, credited Noel Hylton, the executive chairman of the PAJ, for the marina investment undertaken by the PAJ.

"This is a pivotal point in Port Antonio's history," he said. "Today it's a restoration and an indication of NCB's confidence in this section of the country and its future."
Chin said that in making the investment, NCB was thinking long term and was motivated by a desire to help preserve "the rich history that is Jamaica".

"We have a lot of fantastic historical buildings that we have to cherish and preserve," he declared.

The investment he added, was also intended to "catalyse the development of this region and to be an inspiration to the local town people to now have pride in two buildings at least."

Other reasons he cited:

. to set standards "so that we can have pride in what is ours in this community and to give confidence in some people that something is happening here".

To attract other investors.

To encourage the twinning of private enterprise and government as one approach to addressing economic development.

Chin pointed out that a normal investment in a typical branch in the parish capital would have cost the bank about $80 million.

In his address, the businessman also raised concerns about the lack of development in the parish, and chided both the private sector and government for their failure to capitalise on the town's rich heritage through restoration, and appropriate tax incentives for private investments.

"When I walk out of the Marina, as soon as you reach the gate it's like shacks," he said. "So all of us have to pull together now for the development of the town."

He said the lack of development also reflected poor stewardship at the government level, arguing that there was hardly any improvement in the tourism infrastructure since 1903 when the Titchfield Hotel was built with 400 rooms.

"That's not good enough, when we realise the lack of stewardship that we have given to our magnificent God given resources," he said.

Lee Chin said that investors wanted to invest in Jamaica, but there were weaknesses that needed urgent attention.

"The future of the Caribbean is fantastic," he said. "The first precondition is to control crime and violence, proper health care, proper telecommunication services, proper financial services, proper recreational and entertainment."
He cited the tiny Dutch island of St Maarten as a model that Port Antonio should emulate.

"If you want to see the future of Port Antonio go to St Maarten and you will see that buildings like ours can be restored beautifully; we just have to clean off the moss," he urged. "For local government identify role models, develop a master plan and stick to it, develop an investor-friendly process to minimise hurdles."

He added: "We have a very rich history and the potential to capitalise on the tourist process, therefore our government should consider designating certain towns like Falmouth, Lucea and Port Antonio as historical zones with tax and duty concession."

The building being built in Port Antonio will be energy efficient, and will be constructed in a way to avoid flooding. It will have two floors, two courtrooms, a section for police, a media centre, elevator and a high security area for prisoners.