“This
rehabilitation is the beginning of an exercise that will, in the medium term,
contribute to the strategic brand positioning of this historic national
attraction, with its unique mineral waters. It is expected to increase the
revenue earning potential of Milk River Bath and Spa by enhancing its aesthetic
appeal, expanding its range of services and increasing its marketability”
Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill during
the signing of a contract on Wednesday September 2nd 2015 to restore the West
Wing of the Milk River Hotel and Spa
Happy times are
coming again to the Milk River Hotel and Spa in Milk River, Clarendon!!
This as the
Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment on Wednesday September 2nd 2015
had signed a JA$50 million contract to restore the West Wing of the Milk River
Hotel and Spa as reported in the article “Milk
River Hotel And Spa To Get Upgrade”, published Thursday September 3, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
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The contract
was awarded to C&D Construction and Engineering Company Limited and will start
on Monday September 7th 2015 as reported in the article “Milk
River Bath & Spa to undergo major renovation”, published Thursday,
September 03, 2015 by Kimmo Matthews, The
Jamaica Observer.
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The work on the
West Wing of the Milk River Hotel and Spa, is expected to be finished by
December 2015. C&D Construction and Engineering Company Limited work will
mainly focus on the following:
1. Demolition
and alterations
2. Upgrading
of the electrical and plumbing systems, ceiling and floor
3. Painting
and decorating
4. Replacement
of leaking and damaged roof sheeting and frame
C&D
Construction and Engineering Company Limited is very privileged to have won the JA$50 million
contract to work on the property that boasts some twenty (20) rooms, nine (9)
mineral baths and a mineral pool. However, due to the severely dilapidated
state of the infrastructure, only thirteen (13) of the hotel rooms can be
occupied.
C&D Construction and Engineering
Company Limited - Working to make Jamaica more than Sea and Sand
So many are
quite pleased that the 221-year-old property is finally getting some
renovation, especially given its status globally! The spa is reputed to have
healing powers, with many having claiming to have been relieved form the pain
of the following diseases:
1. Gout
2. Liver
disorders
3. Lumbago
4. Nerve
conditions
5. Neuralgia
6. Rheumatism
7. Sciatica
This renewed
interest signals the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment's move away from
Jamaica as merely a destination of Sea and sand towards one focused on health
and wellness tourism, to quote General Manager of the facility, Diane
Sommerville: “Too much potential is in this place for us not to make use of it
and ecotourism is a good way to start. Make it a place for the perfect getaway,
not like so many others, which are about sun, sea and sand, but a place where
persons can be at one with nature. We can make it into a nice little
south-coast getaway”.
 |
General Manager
of the facility, Diane Sommerville hopes that along with renovating the West
Wing, they’ll also include renovation to the Mineral Baths as well as the
Building itself. This as the Lobby and Spa area are in need of a modern-day
makeover to bring the entire property up to an international standard.
But what's so
special about the Milk River Hotel and Spa? And does this mean that more work
will be done for the Community of Milk River overall?
Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel Renovation
coming - How Milk River will mark the return of prosperity to South West
Clarendon
I certainly
hope so.
I call Rest
Square, Milk River my home away from home, as I return here every Summer to get
away from the hustle and bustle of City life in Kingston.
The Milk River
Bath and Spa Hotel is located (Wikipedia, 2014, November
21) some 3.22 km (2 miles) South of the village of Milk River or 19.31km (12 miles) South of the A2 road at Toll Gate.
The Milk River, so called because it turns milk white whenever the river is in
spate, is 100m away on the opposite side of the roads facing the Milk River
Bath and Spa Hotel.
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The baths are
open 24 hours a day to hotel guests (Ministry of
Tourism and Entertainment, 2014) and 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and the public
mineral water swimming pool open on the weekends. There are two (2) springs
with the Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel with the water of the second being fit
for drinking.
The road to
Milk River is littered with pot holes and is badly in need of repair and
although the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) via the NWA (National Works Agency)
repairs the roads, they eventually become damaged again after heavy rains.
These pictures below are those of Milk River take when they were damaged.
After visitors
drive down through York Town, past Parnassus and then Crooks Gate and finally
make the turn pass Gimme-me-Bit, you'll basically arrive in a three way
Y-junction called Rest Square. From there, you just keep driving straight until
you see the Milk River on your left and the Milk River Bath and Spa Hotel on
your right.
Milk River is a
place that is the stuff of legends.
According to
local folklore, the bath was discovered by a slave who'd escaped from a
plantation owner named Jonathan Ludford who'd beaten him severely. The slave
ran away and in hiding out in the wilderness, he'd take a bath in the mineral
spring. Noting that his wounds had miraculously healed, he oddly returned to
the slave master, Jonathan Ludford.
So shocked was
he at this miracle that he allegedly promised the slave freedom from punishment
if he showed him the secret location of the mineral spring.
Not sure how it
all worked out for the slave, but Jonathan Ludford used the mineral spring
until his death. At that point, the Government of Jamaica was gifted the lands
and the mineral spring located on the property and by 1974, the Milk River Bath
and Spa Hotel was opened to the public.
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Its healing
powers are in doubt, but the bath itself has a radioactivity of 16 millicurries
per litre.
This puts it
the top tier of mineral baths, as at that level of radioactivity
(Jamaica Travel and Culture, 2010), it's more 50 times the radioactivity of
the waters of Vichy in France and 54 times the radioactivity of the Mineral
bath in Baden in Switzerland.
So its repair
is vital to the long term future of Milk River and the surrounding community as
a whole. Hopefully, they'll also resuscitate the Spring Plains as renovation of
this farming kibbutz will hand that political party a handy victory in the
South West Clarendon as explained in my blog article
entitled “South
Coast developement in Clarendon necessary for JLP victory”.
Here's the
link:
References:
1. Jamaica
Travel and Culture. (2010). Milk River Bath and Spa. Retrieved from
http://www.jamaicatravelandculture.com/destinations/clarendon/milk-river-bath.htm
2. Ministry
of Tourism and Entertainment. (2014). Milk River Hotel and Spa. Retrieved from
http://www.mot.gov.jm/content/milk-river-hotel-and-spa
3. Wikipedia.
(2014, November 21). Milk River Bath. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_River_Bath
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