Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Buses travel along the causeway which connects Portmore, St. Catherine, to the Corporate Area, on April 4 last year. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson yesterday announced that a $300 million loan by the Venezuelan Government could reduce the cost of the toll to be implemented. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
TOLL COSTS for the Portmore leg of Highway 2000 could be kept down, thanks to a low-interest loan of up to US$300 million ($19 billion) from the Venezuelan Government, said Prime Minister P.J. Patterson yesterday.
Portmore residents had expressed anger at a proposed toll of J$65 (US$1). But a Gleaner-commissioned survey of 600 Portmore drivers, conducted last August by Johnson Survey Research Ltd., revealed that most would only be willing to pay J$30. The Supreme Court last year ruled in favour of Government naming Mandela Highway as a suitable alternative to the toll road in a lawsuit brought by the residents.
But yesterday, ahead of a pending meeting with Portmore residents, the Prime Minister hinted at the possibility of them paying a favourable toll for usage of the new highway and six-lane bridge that link the sprawling St. Catherine community to the Corporate Area.
LOW-COST LOAN
"The idea is to replace high-price commercial debt with a low-cost loan and it will have implications for the Highway 2000 project and also (future) toll prices," Mr. Patterson disclosed yesterday in response to enquiries from The Gleaner. The total projected cost for all phases of Highway 2000 is US$390 million (J$25 billion).
Portmore Mayor George Lee welcomed the Prime Minister's news.
"We are certainly happy, if it would be a reasonable and affordable toll, although we still need more details which we hope will come from our meeting with the Prime Minister," the mayor said.
The meeting with Portmore residents, granted by the Prime Minister, is yet to be scheduled, noted Mr. Lee, but he added, "I have every confidence it will be in the near future."
Although the Prime Minister did not disclose the interest rate at which Venezuela is lending Jamaica the highway money, he said concerns that the loan would upset the international money market have also been resolved. Mr. Patterson said negotiations have now been finalised and he is currently writing a letter to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for the go-ahead.
To date, Highway 2000 has been financed jointly by the Government of Jamaica, which raised funds from the local money market via a bond issue, as well as commercial bank loans to TransJamaican Highway, the local developing arm of French construction firm, Bouygues Travaux Publics.
Mr. Patterson said the Venezuelan loan will also be used to speed up the Ocho Rios leg of Highway 2000, as well as finance an islandwide road repair project.
