Cabinet Approves $5.6 Billion Contract for Northern Coastal Highway Project

Cabinet has approved a $5.6 billion contract for Segment 3 of the Northern Coastal Highway Project (NCHIP).
Prime Minister P.J Patterson, who made the disclosure at Monday’s (Sept. 5) post Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, said that the project would be financed under agreements effected with the European Union, which would be providing a grant of some 66 million Euros.
Additional funding is to be provided by the government through the supply of three bridges from the current Mabey Johnson Priority Bridge Programme. The contract for the project has been awarded to E.Phil and Sons A.S of Denmark.
Prime Minister Patterson also informed that the process of acquiring the requisite lands, removing utilities and resettling persons, who will be affected by the project, was well underway, with over 95 per cent of the process completed.
The NCHIP was formulated between 1989 and 1990 to effect improvements to and develop the physical infrastructure along Jamaica’s North Coast. NCHIP is a subproject of the Northern Jamaica Development Project (NJDP) and involves the development of the Negril to Port Antonio road corridor in three segments.
Segment 1 involves the development of roadway from Negril to Montego Bay; Segment 2 comprises the stretch of road from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios; and Segment 3 involves the development of the Ocho Rios to Port Antonio roadway.