Work Being Carried Out on 50 Roads under SPARK

Construction is under way on 50 roads under the Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) Programme.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for Works, Hon. Robert Morgan, provided the update during Tuesday’s (May 20) sitting of the House of Representatives at Gordon House.

“We expect that by next week we will be in all 63 constituencies and by the end of June we would have started over 90 of the SPARK roads,” the Minister said.

He noted that several roads, including Richings Avenue in St. Andrew and Everest Drive and Bridgeview in St. Catherine, have been completed.

“We’re still dealing with Harbour Heights, which has proven to be a very challenging infrastructure,” he pointed out.
Minister Morgan noted that issues encountered during the road works have delayed the start of projects in some areas.

“Let’s use as an example Everest Drive. We thought it would be a six-week project. We went there; we found pipes with asbestos. We had to do pipe work, which was not a part of the schedule, which has caused delays in other projects in East Kingston and Port Royal,” he told the House.

Meanwhile, the Works Minister informed that the National Works Agency (NWA) has started the procurement process for the $1.5-billion Quarterly Patching Programme, which was announced last month.

He said that the patching programme should get under way in June.