Consultations Begin on $40-Billion Road Improvement Project under SPARK

Consultations with community members have started for the Government’s $40-billion road improvement project, under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) programme.

The first in the series of SPARK programme town hall meetings was held at the Edith Dalton James High School in Duhaney Park, St. Andrew, on May 2.

The meeting provided an opportunity for residents to engage with various government stakeholders on the road network in their communities.

The SPARK programme was announced by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, earlier this year and aims to address and improve the island’s community road network.

Expected outcomes include improved road safety; better localised drainage; and reduced travel time, vehicle operating costs, and motor vehicle carbon emissions.

Addressing residents at the meeting, Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, reminded them that the project aims to improve their lives.

“This project is nonpartisan. It is not a political programme… regardless of what colour shirt you wear, your front-end feels it, so you don’t have one road for green and one for orange. Everybody uses the same road, and everybody is affected in the same way,” he said.

Mr. McKenzie argued that the success of the programme depends on the participation of the communities.

“We are here with you this evening, not to dictate to you but for you to have a say… . This will benefit all of us… . It is a programme that involves all the stakeholders, and I ask you to have confidence in the programme, but most importantly, have the confidence in yourselves as community representatives to make the right choice in determining the future of the programme in western St. Andrew,” he said.

He pointed out that there are more than 22,000 kilometres of road across Jamaica.

“But the greater portion of our road network is what the community travels on and so the programme, although it is being done through the CDF (Constituency Development Fund), it involves the local authorities,” the Minister said.

Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Director, Kedesha Rochester, said that a collaborative approach will be taken in the execution of the SPARK programme, noting that the consultations will assist in determining the roads to be repaired.

“We [CDF] are the vehicle that is being used to do consultations…We are not implementing. We are going to go to the 228 divisions and hear from you, the residents and citizens of this country.

“The CDF will consult, the NWA [National Works Agency] will implement, the SDC [Social Development Commission] will mobilise, the Ministry of Local Government will do mapping, and the NWC [National Water Commission] is here to support,” she outlined.

Ms. Rochester told the residents that SPARK is not a patching programme.

She noted that $20 billion of the budgeted amount will be spent on community and local roads while the remainder will be used for main roads.

Member of Parliament, St. Andrew Western, Anthony Hylton, welcomed the initiative, which he said, would improve the aging infrastructure in the community.

Other stakeholders at the town hall included Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Andrew Swaby, as well as representatives from the NWA and NWC.