$500M Development Road for Manchester, Under JDIP

A major road, the Christiana Development Road, is to be constructed in Manchester under the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), at a cost US$6 million (approximately J$500 million).
Making the announcement at the Manchester launch of the JDIP on Thursday September 9, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, said it will ease traffic in the town of Christiana and open space for the expansion of businesses in the area.
“It is a development road for the second largest town in the parish of Manchester and, when that road is built, we will have a new traffic system. We are going to be able to extend the market, we are going to provide facilities and build a cultural centre, similar to the Cecil Charlton Hall in Mandeville,” Mr. Shaw, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester North East, told the launch at the Christiana Early Childhood and Pre-School.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, who is also Member of Parliament for North East Manchester, speaking at the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP) launch in Manchester on Thursday September 9, at the Christiana Early Childhood and Pre-School in the parish.

He lauded the Government’s low interest rates policy as a major contributing factor to road and infrastructure development, particularly the JDIP initiative that is targeting communities across the island at a cost of $36 billion.
“This programme is bringing infrastructure development at three per cent money, and the reason why we are able to go islandwide with this project is because we negotiated and got the interest rates at a low of three per cent ,” he said.
Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding, who also addressed the gathering, said the Christiana Development Road was not just about managing traffic.
“People are going to see an opportunity to do business, they are going to employ people,” the Prime Minister explained.

Students of the Manchester-based Holmwood Technical High School performing at the launch of the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP) in Manchester on Thursday September 9 at the Christiana Early Childhood and Pre-School.

The JIDP represents a major undertaking by the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) to significantly improve the island’s road network, enhance the quality of life of citizens and stimulate economic development.
The programme has resulted from an innovative partnership between the Governments of Jamaica and the People’s Republic of China, and is recognised as the largest, most comprehensive infrastructural programme to be implemented in Jamaica.
The Government of China, through its Export Import (EXIM) bank, has made available US$400 million (approximately J$36 billion) for the programme of works to be effected islandwide on roads, bridges, drains and traffic systems. The programme will be undertaken on all roads, main and parochial, and will be undertaken over a period of five (5) years.