An agreement has been reached between the National Works Agency (NWA) and the National Water Commission (NWC) to coordinate their activities to ensure the smooth implementation of work projects.
This was stated by Minister of Information with responsibility for Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, while touring communities in West Portland on Saturday (November 6), to see firsthand, the extent of damage to the road infrastructure.
He said it is important for the agencies to work together as to do otherwise would be “counter-productive.”
Minister Vaz, who is also Member of Parliament for West Portland, was accompanied by officials from the NWA and the Portland Parish Council.
A section of the Craig Mill to Buff Bay main road in West Portland that collapsed recently. Minister of Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects and Member of Parliament for West Portland, Hon. Daryl Vaz, accompanied by National Works Agency (NWA) officials, toured that section of the parish on Saturday (Nov. 6), to get an update on damage to the roads in the area, prior to the start of the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), which will get underway shortly.
During the tour, a number of areas were identified for immediate attention. These include the Craig Mill to Buff Bay main road where a culvert has collapsed; the roadway leading to the entrance of the Bloomfield Basic School in Swift River where the embankment is being eroded; and the Shirley Castle to Claverty Cottage Road.
Work to be carried out will include river training, patching and implementing proper drainage systems in some areas. A guard rail will also be erected along a section of the roadway in St. Margaret’s Bay.
The Minister informed that the tour was necessary to assess the infrastructural damage in the area in order to re-align the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), and prioritise the needs that presently exist there.
“It is important that we sit down and work out how we prioritise the issues that have confronted us,” he said, adding that “some recent damage, as well as a number of long standing problems that require minimum expenditure will also be addressed.”
Commenting on the recent agreement with the NWC, Chief Executive Officer of the NWA, Patrick Wong, said he was happy that a new methodology will be used to guarantee total coordination in going forward. He also added that a steering committee will be set up to meet on a monthly basis to review the agencies’ programmes.
In giving an update on the JDIP, Mr. Wong said the Portland leg will be rolled out shortly, and “citizens will begin to see meaningful repairs to some long standing infrastructural problems that have existed over the years.”