Work on North Coast Highway Influencing New Investments in Tourism

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies has said that development work on Segment Two and Three of the North Coast Highway was a major factor influencing decisions for new investments in tourism in the parishes of St. Ann and Trelawny.
He pointed out that already, Segment One of the North Coast Highway had totally transformed the travel dynamics between Negril and Montego Bay, adding that Segment Two, which is currently under construction, would do the same for the Montego Bay to Ocho Rios journey.
Opening the 2004/05 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (April 15), the Minister said that as soon as certain contractual issues were resolved, work would begin on Segment Three from Ocho Rios to Port Antonio.
Dr. Davies said that to complement the development of the North Coast Highway, work was progressing speedily on Highway 2000. He informed that the second segment between Bushy Park in St. Catherine and Mandela Highway is scheduled to be completed and opened by October of this year.
The Minister added that this would be followed by the section that would include a new Causeway joined to the Mandela Highway via the Dyke Road. The completion date for this section is set for December 2005.
Dr. Davies informed the House that the final segment – Sandy Bay in Clarendon to Williamsfield in Manchester – has a projected completion date of August 2008.
The first segment of Highway 2000 (Bushy Park to Sandy Bay) was officially opened by Prime Minister P. J. Patterson in September last year, becoming the first toll road in the island.