John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
Sketch of proposed transportation centre.
THE GOVERNMENT is to break ground on March 30 for the construction of a new 54.5 million Euro ($435 million) modern transportation centre on lands which once accommodated the old Odeon Cinema in Half-Way Tree, St. Andrew.
Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, yesterday announced that the government had secured a loan from the Belgian Government for the construction of the facility.
According to Minister Pickersgill, the construction of the transportation centre became necessary as commuters in very large numbers have to brave the elements. He said there is an absence of bathroom facilities, and the arrangements are rather much less than satisfactory, both in regard to the conditions borne by the travelling public and the efficiency of the operations of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company and other public transport.
TO BE COMPLETED IN 30 MONTHS
The contract for the project has been awarded to Transurb Technirail, an overseas multi-national construction firm, and is to be completed in 30 months. The existing building which currently forms the Odeon Plaza is expected to be demolished to make way for the new transportation hub.
However, the minister said construction will proceed "as soon as we decide on how the traffic will flow and sensitise the public." He said the ministry would be meeting with business operators in and around the site to discuss the dislocations that will result.
The new transportation centre is part of the ministry's plans to overhaul public transportation in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region.
