Prime Minister Andrew Holness says his Government will address the crisis of bad roads across Jamaica by implementing a multi-pronged enterprise level strategy which involves both temporary and long-term solutions.

The Prime Minister moved to assure that his Government is aware of and sensitive to public discontent about difficulty in vehicular commute while he addressed a media briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Holness observed that concerns in the public domain have intensified due to a number of roads deteriorating following recent adverse weather including Hurricane Beryl and the passage of Tropical Storm Rafael which brought heavy rains to sections of the island.

“We are going to fix your roads and when it is done, it will be transformational. Patching is important
to bring short term relief, however we are putting systems in place that will become institutional,
systems which will endure and solve the problem over the short, medium and long term,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that past administrations have not been able to address the challenge of poor roads in Jamaica given that they did not have the fiscal space to do so due to factors which include, substandard management of the economy.

The Prime Minister told the media briefing that his administration has solved the challenge of Jamaica’s economic management and has put the country in a position to be able to place five billion dollars into a contingency fund to respond to climate change events which cause infrastructural damage and also engaged international and regional insurance facilities which provide a buffer against potential economic shocks caused by natural disasters.

The Prime Minister also credited sound fiscal management by his Government for its ability to allocate approximately 45-billion dollars to the SPARK programme without having to seek help from lending agencies.

The Prime Minister says the implementation phase of the SPARK programme should get underway shortly.

“The project is well underway. You’re not yet seeing the actual asphalt hitting the road, but believe me when I tell you the asphalt putting on the road is maybe twenty percent of the entire project. From the conception phase to public investment assessment to contracting to procurement and then implementation, it’s a lengthy process which the law requires us to observe. We have to review those
laws to enable us to deliver in quicker time. However, I am hopeful that we will begin to see
implementation of the programme, interms of asphalt hitting the roadway, before the year ends,” Holness said.

The Prime Minister explained why the issue of poor road conditions has dogged Jamaica over many
decades. He cited disinvestment in the island’s road infrastructure, a major increase in the number of vehicles on the nation’s roadway and the intensifying impact of climate change on the under-
prepared road network as among the reasons for the current substandard condition of many roads.

“If you put all of these things together, it is quite understandable why all Jamaicans are frustrated
with the road situation. I want to say to the country that the government is aware of it. The
government is not insensitive to it. Yes, we must respond by patching the road, it gives temporary
relief but if you really want to see a transformational change in Jamaica’s road circumstances in the
same way that we have transformed our financial circumstances, it takes enterprise level plan to do
it,” he noted.

The Prime Minister Holness told the media briefing that Jamaicans can be assured that his Government is aggressively moving to implement the multi-faceted enterprise level planning which is required to deliver quality and sustainable roads across the island.

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