PM Expresses Appreciation for Work on North-South Highway
By: , May 21, 2014The Key Point:
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Prime Minister the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller (centre); is being updated on progress on the Linstead to Moneague leg of the North-South Highway, by Managing Director, National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC), Ivan Anderson (left); and Quality Assurance Engineer at China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), Ryan Smith (right). Occasion was a tour of highway today Tuesday (May 20). The road is scheduled for opening in early August.The Facts
- Mrs. Simpson Miller said based on what she saw, when the road is completed, Jamaica, “in this section will look like any first world country.”
- The North-South section of Highway 2000 will be 66 kilometres long and allow motorists to travel from Kingston to the resort town of Ocho Rios in less than an hour.
The Full Story
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, has expressed appreciation for the hard work of the hundreds of workers employed in constructing the Linstead to Moneague leg of the North-South Highway, scheduled for opening in early August.
Mrs. Simpson Miller, who was on a tour of the project on Tuesday, May 20, said based on what she saw, when the road is completed, Jamaica, “in this section will look like any first world country.”
“I am very pleased that it will be completed for the August opening and the other areas will be completed by 2016,” the Prime Minister added.
She was accompanied on the tour by Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Jamaica, His Excellency, Dong Xiaojun; State Minister in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Richard Azan; and officials of China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), contractors for the highway.
The North-South section of Highway 2000 will be 66 kilometres long and allow motorists to travel from Kingston to the resort town of Ocho Rios in less than an hour.
Execution of the US$600 project is being done through a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement between the Jamaican Government and CHEC, and is being undertaken in three sections.
The first leg of the project will connect Caymanas to Linstead in St. Catherine; the second, Linstead to Moneague in St. Ann; while segment three will link Moneague to Ocho Rios in St. Ann. Both the first and third segments are scheduled to be completed by 2016.
Meanwhile, Managing Director for the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC), Ivan Anderson, informed that 1,600 people are currently employed on the project.
Mr. Anderson said the economic impact on the country “is going to be significant” when the project is completed.
“The movement of goods and services is going to changed; where people choose to live and work…it is going to change the entire society; and the impact, possible greater than three percent GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the long-term,” Mr. Anderson said.