Works and Agriculture Ministers Tour Damaged Farm Roads in St. Elizabeth

Minister of Transport and Works, Michael Henry, toured several damaged farm roads in South West St. Elizabeth, on November 14, with a view to having repairs done.
Also on the tour were Minister of Agriculture, and Member of Parliament for the area, Dr. Christopher Tufton; Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Works, Joseph Hibbert and representatives from the National Works Agency (NWA) and the St. Elizabeth Parish Council.
Speaking with JIS News, Dr. Tufton said that the tour involved the examination of several farm roads in the constituency, which revealed that many of them are in a very poor condition.
“What we are doing now, as an immediate response, is to identify those farm roads that are impassable and deal with those as a matter of priority. We have done so in a number of parishes like Portland, the coffee country, and so on. We are doing the same thing here in St. Elizabeth,” the Minister said.
He pointed out that a programme has been established to deal with farm roads on a continuous basis over the next month and into the next year.
The Minister noted that the programme had received a budgetary allocation of $200 million, along with a commitment from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), for an additional $200 million. “We are working with the NWA and the Minister of Transport and Works, Michael Henry, to get more money assigned to farm roads,” he said.
Repairs are currently being carried out on the Prospect and Slipe farm roads in the constituency, using Pave-Zyme, a soil stabilisation compound.
The tour also included visits to Black River, Cotterwood, Greenfield, Round Hill and Hounslow in the Parish.