Cabinet Approves Additional Sum for Repairs to Petrojam Dock

Cabinet has approved an adjustment in the contract sum for civil works to the main dock at Petrojam Limited in Kingston, to repair severe damage to the facility resulting from a ship crash last year.
The value of the contract, awarded to Diving and Salvaging Limited, will move from $99 million (inclusive of a 15 per cent contingency) to $137.7 million.
Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, speaking at Wednesday’s (June 30) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, explained that the adjustment was due to the increased scope and quantity of work undertaken to effect the required repairs to the dock and to improve the facility for long-term use.
“The civil works were deemed an emergency because of the severity of the damage done by the vessel, Great News, which hit the dock on June 1, 2009,” the Minister noted.
He pointed out that the collision removed approximately 50 per cent of the dock and severely restricted loading and off-loading activities for crude petroleum products.
In the meantime, Cabinet approved a loan of $120 million by FINSAC Limited to the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) to settle outstanding arrears to the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS).
Minister Vaz noted that during the recent island wide drought, the NIC had to execute increased pumping of irrigation water to meet the needs of farmers and for domestic use.
“The costs associated with this additional pumping significantly increased the amounts payable to the JPS, which peaked at $141 million at the end of May 2010. The NIC was unable to meet the payments to the JPS from its operations,” he explained.