Jamaica to honour Harry Belafonte with renamed Roadway

Rashaed Esson

Staff writer

#Jamaica, May 5, 2023 – A section of the North Coast Highway in St. Ann will be renamed in honour of the late Harry Belafonte; the announcement came from Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica while speaking in the House of Representatives last Tuesday April 25, on the day the screen and stage superstar died.

“The Government of Jamaica considered how we should recognise this icon and we concluded that we would name a highway in his honour,” Holness expressed.

He added that it will be called The Harry Belafonte Highway.

This gesture is in connection to Belafonte’s roots as a child of Caribbean parents who immigrated to the US, specifically his mother Melvine Bellanfanti, who was Jamaican.

Holness explained that they chose the section because of its location as it passes through St. Ann, close to where Belafonte spent his youth when he and his younger brother were brought to Jamaica from New York in 1936.

Additionally, he said the decision was made by Cabinet before he passed.

However, while the naming is in placed to happen, an official date has not been revealed detailing when it will take place. It will be on hold until decisions regarding the upgrading of the highway are finalized.

The naming of the highway is only a piece of the pie.

Holness also revealed that St. James will see the construction of a state-of-the-art performing arts centre, also to be named in his honour.

The lands for the project have already been acquired, according to Edmund Bartlett, Tourism Minister.