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H2K phase 2 sure ­ Thomas


Phillips and Thomas

HEAD OF the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), Kingsley Thomas, has declared optimism that the second phase of the US$850 million project would proceed closely after phase one.

Similarly, Transport and Works Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, also told the House of Parliament this week that phase two of the toll expressway ­ incorporating Bushy Park to Ocho Rios and Mandeville to Montego Bay ­ was sure to follow on the Kingston to Mandeville leg.

Announced as a showpiece millennium project by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Thomas asserted that the highway was feasible, having recorded a benefit/cost ratio (BCR) of more than one for the overall project.

The phase one BCR carries the greater weighting in the feasibility estimates, recording over two, whereas phase two has a low 0.7 ratio and so, has a higher associated risk.

Thomas in a previous interview had said he could not predict when phase two would come on stream, and that it was dependent on the successful concessionaire's ability to raise funding for it.

The highway is expected to break ground by year-end, marking the start of the US$390m first leg, to be constructed over two years. The contractor/concessionaire will design, finance, build, own, operate, and at the end of 35 years, transfer ownership of the highway back to Government.

Earnings will come from tolls of an estimated 3 to 7 US cents per kilometre.

In the meantime, the DBJ head also told Builders Forum that the existing road network would be maintained in conditions that will allow them to remain viable alternatives to the toll roads. The DBJ is working collaboratively with the National Works Agency to ensure this, Thomas said.

The project team has been deeply criticised by the Jamaican Institute of Architects (JIA) for not being sufficiently open about the toll highway.

Thomas in dismissing the criticisms, indicated that he had chosen a deliberate strategy of managed information flow as the project was very sensitive.

He added, however, that he had met with the JIA three times on the project, and had held wide consultations otherwise with groups across Jamaica.

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