$20 Billion to Be Set Aside for Post-Spark Road Maintenance

The Government has made provision for the maintenance of the island’s network of secondary roads beyond the Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) Programme.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, gave the assurance while responding to questions during today’s (March 6) sitting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives.

“The instruction from Prime Minister through the Permanent Secretary to the National Works Agency (NWA) is that post the SPARK programme, that $20 billion is to be allocated for the maintenance of secondary roads as a line item going forward,” he said.

The SPARK programme intends to modernise more than 2,000 roads islandwide.

It is designed to address secondary, parochial and community roads over the next three years.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, had indicated that each Member of Parliament (MP) will be allocated $150 million to effect these rehabilitation works.

In the meantime, regarding the establishment of a registry for the roads, Minister Samuda informed that “the National Spatial Data Management Unit has already completed the work in terms of identifying the roads and creating that registry for nine parishes”.

“We are well under way to ensure that the SPARK programme is able to address [the roads] and that the registry becomes a reality,” he added.