BRAIS

Repair work on the extensively damaged Bog Walk gorge in St Catherine is on track to be completed ahead of the four-week deadline set by the France-based company Bouygues Travaux, which is undertaking the repairs free of cost.

Louis Brais, the managing director of Bouygues, says work started one week ago and has been progressing steadily, despite some setbacks caused by rains associated with weather systems which were affecting the Caribbean.

The scope of work includes removing debris, improving retaining walls, addressing slopes and patching the scoured sections of the gorge, as well as minor repairs to Flat Bridge.

Make it passable

"It's certainly not meant to be a complete reconstruction of the gorge road, but definitely to make it passable," Brais said. He was not immediately able to provide an estimate on the project, but said the finished job should make the gorge better than it was before Gustav.

The gorge was very badly eroded when Tropical Storm Gustav lashed Jamaica two weeks ago. Brais said about 60 people, including three expatriates, are working for at least 10 hours a day, seven days a week, to improve the conditions in the gorge.

"We have gone to great lengths to ensure that the right apportionment of the work is done," he said, noting that the majority of the labourers had been drawn from surrounding communities.

Rented equipment

According to Brais, equipment and technical support have been drawn from the Mount Rosser leg of the Highway 2000 project and additional equipment has been rented.

Bouygues, which was contracted to construct the Kingston to Clarendon and Portmore legs of Highway 2000, is undertaking the repairs to the gorge as part of what Brais calls its corporate responsibility.