Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE GOVERNMENT has once again revised the deadline for the completion of the 97 kilometre segment II of the much delayed North Coast Highway from June 2005 to December 2005.
Segment Two runs from the city of Montego Bay, St. James to Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
Acknowledging that there will be additional delays in completing that stretch of roadway, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announced the new timeline yesterday. This deadline is one year and six months behind the original completion date.
Responding to queries from The Gleaner yesterday afternoon, the Prime Minister explained that the delay was necessary to accommodate additional modifications which need to be made to the roadway.
NEW HOTEL DEVELOPMENTS
The laying of pipelines to accommodate the new hotel developments planned for sections of Trelawny and St. James also accounted for the delays, he said.
"The work should be completed sometime by the end of 2005... it is a deadline which I am hoping everyone will be able to keep," Mr. Patterson said in response to questions from journalists. He was speaking yesterday during a tour of the highway.
Indicating that construction on the project was more than 50 per cent complete, Mr. Patterson expressed satisfaction at the quality and extent of the work that he observed.
There is an escalation in the original cost of the highway which is now poised to top the US $100 million mark. This is US$20 million (J$1.2 billion) above the original figure. The Government is blaming the escalating cost of the project on the increased cost of raw material.
"The project in its original form was somewhat in the order of US$80 million. With the variations that have occurred including those that would arise because of escalations of the cost of material such as steel... the cost of labour as a result of JIC rates and those variations that have been authorised by us...I think that we're talking about something now in the order of about US$100 million," Mr. Patterson said.
