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PickersgillWESTERN BUREAU:
MINISTER OF Transport and Works Robert Pickersgill said yesterday that by 2003 Jamaica's roads would be pothole free. He said the Government was committed to this task and already had allocated about $750 million to patch roads this year.
The Minister was speaking at the signing of a $197 million road-patching contract for St. James, Hanover, Trelawny and Westmoreland yesterday. The contract has been awarded to contractor D.R. Foote. About 254 kilometres of roadway, some 25 roads, will be rehabilitated.
The roads include Sign to Virgin Valley, Montpelier to Mafoota, Orange Hill to Stonehenge and An-chovy to Mount Horeb in St. James; Riley to Glascow, Lethe to Burnt Ground, Kew to Jericho and Riley to Bush Mountain in Hanover; Stewart Town to Rock, Rio Bueno to Jackson Town, Martha Brae to Kinloss and Deeside to Drummily in Trelawny; Grange Hill to Little London, Fertfort to Flowerville, Torrington to Pennicooke and New Hope to Sheffield in Westmoreland.
He said that several sub-contractors would be used to ensure that the work would progress satisfactorily. Additionally, he said that he would be returning to sign another contract for the rehabilitation of urban roads in Montego Bay in coming months.
The contract to rehabilitate the North Gully has also been awarded, he said, to M&M Construction Ltd. and would be signed in MoBay shortly. Lands atop the completed South Gully Drainage Project was also officially handed over to the St. James Parish Council yesterday.
The four parcels of land, about 21, 500 sq. metres (about 5.3 acres) will provide parking to alleviate traffic congestion in the city, Deputy Mayor Gerard Mitchell said.
Mr. Pickersgill also announced that the National Works Agency (NWA) had secured the necessary equipment to undertake cleaning and maintenance of the South Gully 'Montego Bay Drainage and Flood Control Project'.
"Over many decades, we have been able to construct new facilities but seemingly we fall short on maintenance, not so anymore," he said. "The box culverts will be cleaned regularly and the NWA has already acquired a state of the art drain cleaner that will complement the other pieces of cleaning equipment being purchased."
