Work Commences Under Year-End Cleanup Programme

Work has commenced under the $1.5 billion annual end of year cleanup programme, being spearheaded by the National Works Agency (NWA) and National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).

NWA Communication and Customer Services Manager, Stephen Shaw, told JIS News that the activities include drain cleaning, bushing and patching by the agency, and the removal of bulky waste by the NSWMA.

“Every year, we have a programme of work at the end of the year, at the back end of the Atlantic hurricane season. This year, the Government has earmarked $1.5 billion, and that sum is to be divided among the 63 constituencies,” he said.

Mr. Shaw indicated that the programmed activities comprise the overall slate of work to be undertaken in the targeted areas.

A critical aspect of the cleanup programme is the islandwide road patching work, now underway.

Mr. Shaw said that under the $5 billion Relief Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH) Programme, road repairs have already begun.

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

This follows Cabinet approval of the emergency road repair project, bringing the total provided under the REACH programme to $5 billion.

“We are looking to have the contracts in place before the weekend, so we can move quickly to start the implementation. This again will go over into early January,” Mr. Shaw informed.

“This is a main road programme. So the emphasis would be on those roads that take a lot of vehicular traffic – Washington Boulevard, Spanish Town Road, Grants Pen Road, the North Coast Highway- all these corridors that we have had complaints about, we are going to be giving some attention through the $2 billion [provision],” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shaw said preparations for the implementation of the $45 billion SPARK programme are underway and will commence in short order.

He noted that work under the SPARK programme will commence in St. Andrew, Clarendon and Manchester.

“Not everything is going to be able to be done at the same time. We are going to have to programme the work over a particular period… these parishes are going to be the first three where work will be seen under the SPARK programme,” he said.