St. Ann Development Company Limited (SADCo) is a subsidiary of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), with registered office at Ocean Village Shopping Centre, Main Street, Ocho Rios, St. Ann. The mandate of SADCo is to manage the assets owned by UDC in St. Ann, inclusive of Dunn's River Falls and Park, the Green Grotto Caves and Attractions, Ocho Rios Bay Beach and Turtle River Park.
The Jamaican Government created the Urban Development Corporation in 1968 through a Special Act of Parliament to ensure that planned and orderly development takes place when and where it is needed in Jamaica, within the framework of national priorities. The UDC is the principal public sector organisation responsible for planning and designing urban environments in designated areas in Jamaica. It is also the entity charged with preparing, developing and implementing plans for urban development, urban renewal and rural modernisation, in collaboration with other agencies.
The mission of the UDC is to improve the quality of life for citizens in designated areas through the planning and implementation of development projects including physical, secondary and social infrastructure and the delivery of quality service to clients. One of the many problems facing newly independent Jamaica in the 1960s was the increasing trend towards overpopulation in the urban centres. Because capital investment in mining, manufacturing and tourism was concentrated in these areas, there was a drift of the rural population to the cities and towns in search of employment and an improved quality of life. It was at this stage, that the Government decided that creating new and viable urban centres in rural areas to ease the pressure from the existing ones could ameliorate the problems of urban growth. This would be accompanied by improvement in the urban fabric of metropolitan regions.
Herein was seen the need for a developer in the public interest, which would combine the authority and resources of Government, with the expertise and dynamism of the private sector, supported by appropriate legislative powers. Thus, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) came into being in March 1968.
Since 1968, the UDC has effectively transformed Jamaica's most viable urban centres and strategic rural towns, while preserving the natural environment, traditions and customs and spurring economic development. The organisation, through its development programmes, has significantly improved the coverage and quality of public infrastructure, in addition to introducing alternative patterns of urban settlement, including creative shelter solutions and the development of new townships.
Major projects over the years have included those in the designated areas: Kingston Waterfront, Caymanas, Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Negril, and Falmouth (special project area).
Making developments happen
