The National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC) is seeking to acquire some 200 properties to facilitate the construction of Phase 1b of Highway 2000, which will run from Sandy Bay, Clarendon, to Williamsfield, Manchester.

Ivan Anderson, CEO of NROCC, said the deadline for the submission of proposals from property owners along the Sandy Bay to Williamsfield corridor ended Monday. He said the company has 24 months in which to acquire all the required lands, but the acquisition of those closer to Sandy Bay would be more crucial for starting construction of the dualised toll highway. Construction is expected to start in the second quarter of this year, he said.

Mr. Anderson noted that the propose of the highway would not cause much dislocation as the construction has been earmarked on mostly unoccupied lands.

Th of Phase 1b will start where the highway ends at Sandy Bay, travelling south of the Bustamante Highway and then cutting across the Toll Gate main road in the vicinity of Clarendon Park near the Juici Patties processing plant and across the parish border into Manchester. The new highway will continue north of the current main road to Porus and then dip south across the road at Trinity before joining the existing Melrose Hill road.