$1.32B Earmarked for Road Patching, De-Bushing and Drain Cleaning Islandwide

Approximately $1.32 billion has been earmarked by the Government to undertake road patching, de-bushing, and drain cleaning islandwide.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says each constituency will be allocated $21 million to fund these activities.

He made the announcement during a statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday (November 1).

Providing a breakdown of how the money will be spent, Mr. Holness said $10 million is earmarked for road patching but pointed out that no reallocation will be allowed from this area.

“However, a maximum of $5 million may be reallocated from other areas for road rehabilitation. In other words, up to $15 million may be spent on road rehabilitation,” he explained.

The Prime Minister further informed that $5 million is to be spent on de-bushing. However, up to $4 million may be reallocated to other areas of the programme.

“Debushing must be done along a road thoroughfare. So, we are not going to approve any programme where the debushing is off a thoroughfare. The public must be able to see the impact of debushing,” Mr. Holness emphasised.

A total of $1 million has been allocated for drain cleaning. However, a maximum of $1 million may be reallocated from other areas to undertake this activity.

Additionally, $5 million has been earmarked for garbage collection, but a maximum of $2 million may be reallocated from this area.

Mr. Holness expressed concern about the extent of solid waste littering the public space.

“It is of great concern to the Government. We have made allocations for 50 new trucks, which are on the high seas as we speak. Further allocations will be made to bring in more new trucks to increase our capacity to collect. But the real problem is that we have a system of garbage collection that needs a total re-engineering,” he stated.

The National Works Agency (NWA) will again be coordinating the activities on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

Prime Minister Holness further informed that de-bushing, drain cleaning, and garbage collection must be completed by Christmas, while road works should be concluded by February 2023.