PickersgillSEVEN CONTRACTS valued at $776 million were yesterday approved by Cabinet for major road work to be carried out in several parishes. Five of the contracts were awarded under the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the same source of funding for the $1.2 billion Old Harbour bypass in St. Catherine, which was completed last year.
Colin Campbell, Minister of Information, made the disclosure yesterday while speaking with journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
Transport and Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill, stressed that the road work was not timed to coincide with the upcoming general election but was being planned for several years. "These (roads) were selected on the basis of usage," he said. "The plans have been two to three years in the making and has nothing to do with the pending elections."
Among the new contracts is one for $317 million which was awarded to St. Catherine Concrete Enterprise Limited for work on the Twickenham Park round-about in the vicinity of the José Marti High School, along the Spanish Town bypass to the Old Harbour round-about. The two round-abouts will be replaced with intersections controlled by traffic signals, similar to the recently converted Three Miles round-about in St. Andrew. The work is expected to last 20 months.
Surrey Paving and Aggregates Limited, which last year transformed the Washington Boulevard into a six-lane highway, has been awarded a $200 million contract for major work on the Stony Hill to Toms River Road in St. Andrew. That work is also expected to last 20 months.
The Williamsfield to Greenvale Road via Mandeville, Manchester, will be rehabilitated at a cost of $103 million over 12 months by Joint Venture Holdings/Surrey Paving. The same company will rehabilitate the Mandeville to Mark Post Road, also over 12 months at $64 million.
Other projects include the award of a contract for the rehabilitation of the Black River Truss Bridge at a cost of $17 million to Kingston Industrial Construction Company. This project is being funded by the Development Bank of Jamaica. The scope of the work includes the installation of a Bailey bridge, bridge detour, general repairs to the deck system and sand blasting and painting of steel members.
"Allowance has been made for environmental protection as the contract calls for debris from sand blasting to be recovered and disposed of in an approved landfill," Mr. Campbell said.
The seventh contract has been awarded to B&H Structure Ltd., for $32 million for the construction of the Banbury Bridge in St. Catherine. Mr. Campbell explained that the bridge was to be replaced under phase six of the Jamaica/Canadian Bridge programme, but was delayed because of a lack of funds.
