Contractors for Emergency Road Repairs Being Engaged This Week

Contracts are slated to be issued to contractors this week to commence critical emergency road repairs for which the Government has provided $2 billion.

This follows Cabinet’s approval of the emergency road repair project, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with Responsibility for Works, Hon. Robert Morgan, said during Wednesday’s (December 11) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

“Recently, Prime Minister [Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness] announced an emergency road repair programme of $2 billion. I can announce that Cabinet… approved that programme on Monday (December 9), and we expect contracts to be issued to the contractors before the end of the week so that we can start doing the work, [especially] since we have seen some signs in some areas that the rains have abated to some extent. We’re going to use that window to repair the roads,” he said.

The $2 billion brings the total provided under the Relief Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH) Programme to $5 billion.

Mr. Morgan indicated that main roads in several parishes will be prioritised for repairs with the $2-billion allocation.

“The National Works Agency will be using this $2 billion as efficiently as possible… in repairing these roads,” the Minister further stated.

Meanwhile, Mr. Morgan emphasised that road repairs are not merely about laying asphalt but are integral to fostering economic growth, enhancing disaster resilience, promoting and ensuring social equity and advancing digital transformation.

“The [$45-billion] SPARK (Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network) initiative and the REACH $5-billion emergency repair and normal repair [programme]… are about people. The repairing of roads… is about people. It’s about the fact that our people have challenges with the roads, challenges that have an economic impact on them. We have to make every effort to give relief to our people in a transparent and accountable way,” he maintained.

Mr. Morgan assured that the Government is, “following all the procurement process [guidelines], both in the REACH programme and the SPARK programme”.

He emphasised that the programmes are “open to scrutiny from anyone who wants to examine [them]”.

“We are not going to act in a non-transparent way or non-accountable way. These are key steps in the next chapter… doing the work, but doing it in a transparent and accountable way,” Mr. Morgan said.