Desmond HenryTREASURE BEACH:
THE WORD coming out about how we build and maintain roads in this country is not at all good. And if you're a regular road user whether for driving, walking or merely connecting for any reason, you ought to be quite concerned. According to information recently released, we do not do a particularly good job at road building, and an even worse one at maintenance.
The information came out of a one-day workshop held by the country's top road agency The National Works Agency, at the Jamaica Conference Centre on May 8. It came across to me as an honest attempt by those in charge, to take a look at themselves and how they have been doing in the business of road-building, repair and maintenance. Presenters spoke honestly about the situation - where the limitations are, and what new strategies should be employed.
Best of intentions
The CEO of the agency Ivan Anderson spoke realistically about the relationship between funds and roads and how, even with the best of intentions, many times what is done is not always a measure of what is best, but what is affordable.
The main presentation was by a German consulting firm Kocks Consult GMBH, who were engaged to carry out a study on ways to secure financing for road maintenance in Jamaica. It was blunt, forthright and filled with caution.
It said, for example, that "the economic costs of inadequate road maintenance are high, and because they are usually in the future, they are often underestimated, heavily discounted or ignored."
Don't we all know that, and can point to some roadways, usually rural, which are built today, ignored over many tomorrows and allowed to go to pot, requiring inordinately higher sums to be rebuilt again. The consultants made the point. We must either build better and maintain consistently, or suffer what we now have - a system of roads not worthy to be described as such.
Jamaica's road network, the consultants said "constitutes a significant maintenance burden." It was pointed out that according to World Bank data, Jamaica has "the world's densest road network in relation to income level, size and geographical characteristics." Our total road network, the report said, is about 10,000 miles, of which main roads account for only 3,000. The remaining 7,000 miles or about 65 per cent consist of secondary and tertiary roads, which it said are "showing significant signs of distress".
As far as vehicular usage is concerned, the consultants make the significant observation that while passenger cars account for up to 72 per cent of all traffic on the main road networks, it is trucks and buses that do the most road damage. Passenger cars, the report said, do no more than contribute to traffic congestion "in an around the main urban centres, but trucks and buses are responsible for almost all pavement damage."
Incremental outlay
Inadequate road maintenance (and construction), Kocks pointed out, "leads to accelerated deterioration in road pavements which in turn, has a significant direct impact on road user costs. These higher than necessary costs are then passed into the rest of the economy in the form of higher distribution (and consumer) costs."
They intimated that if roads were built better and able to last longer, or built better requiring less maintenance "the Jamaican economy would yield...scales of economic benefits for relatively modest incremental outlay."
In the meantime the study recommended a new series of user charges including road tolls, and increased axle fees. Already we have heard of tolls being contemplated for the Old Harbour bypass and Highway 2000.
Technicians in the Works Agency, I am told, will shortly be making their recommendations to Minister Phillips, who also addressed the workshop, on the question of more durable roads at lesser costs.
Whatever decisions are finally made, it is clear that a significant shift in road user habits in Jamaica is about to take place including how we build, maintain and pay for road facilities.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
There are some things that have to be believed, to be seen.
Desmond Henry is a marketing strategist based in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth.
