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<p>The Government will be spending US$195 million to undertake road construction works under the South Coast Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP).</p>
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<p>The project is slated to begin by the end of September. This initial segment of the project will entail the rehabilitation of the 14-kilometre stretch of roadway from Harbour View in Kingston to Cedar Valley in St. Thomas.</p>
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<p>The project is to be executed by China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC), through a three-year contract.</p>
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<p>SCHIP is part of the Government’s strategic development plan
for the unlocking of the growth prospects on the south coast by connecting
Negril, Westmoreland to Port Antonio, Portland via a modern highway system.</p>
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<p>To facilitate the works, CHEC has sub-contracted this
component of the project to three local contractors.</p>
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<p>The construction company, the Government and three the sub-contractors signed off on this arrangement at a contract signing ceremony on Monday at Jamaica House.</p>
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<p>Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Country Manager for CHEC, Dangran Bi, along with representatives from Alcar Construction and Haulage Company Limited, Construction Solutions Limited, and Y.P. Seaton and Associates, participated in the signing ceremony.</p>
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<p>As part of the contract, the section from Harbour View to
Yallahs Bridge will be widened to four lanes to include new and improved
alignments, while the existing main roads from Yallahs Bridge to Port Antonio
and from Morant Bay to Cedar Valley, will be rehabilitated. Some realignments
will also be done on select sections of these corridors.</p>
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<p>Prime Minister Holness said the road improvement works is
part of the Government’s thrust to “open up” and drive development in the
eastern end of the island.</p>
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<p>“We are not just making this massive investment of US$195
million because we want to put down a lovely (roadway)… but in terms of the
wider development plan, we have historically pushed development to the west. We
need now to push the development to the east,” he said.</p>
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<p>He noted that once the rehabilitation of the dual carriage
way is completed, there are plans to begin the development of housing solutions
in the area.</p>
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<p>“So, the Government is going to be moving with the National
Housing Trust (NHT) and the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) to start
developments on lands that we own there….and we call on developers to start
looking now to the east to develop the lands that are now made viable,” he
said.</p>
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<p>In the meantime, the Prime Minister assured that the project
will be done properly “in such a way that 50 years from now, it will be
standing strong.”</p>
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<p>For his part, Country Manager, China Harbour, Dangran Bi,
said the company appreciates being chosen by the Government as the contractor
for this major project.</p>
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<p>“We are very excited to get started on this major
thoroughfare, which will improve the alignment and capacity of the existing
southern coastal main road to make it safer and more efficient (for) travel,”
he said.</p>
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<p>In the meantime, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry
of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Daryl Vaz, welcomed the project,
noting that “this is by far the best thing to happen to the eastern end of the
island in decades.”</p>
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<p>He noted that a key component of the project is that the
upgrading of water infrastructure will be undertaken simultaneously.</p>
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<p>Under the project, new transmission and distribution lines
will be installed in areas where a supply network exists and will be directly
impacted by the road works.</p>
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<p>“Where there is water, but it’s not in the pipes, the pipes
will be run to facilitate the water getting to the communities. Most
importantly, where there is no water, provisions will be made to be able to
pipe water to communities,” Mr. Vaz assured.</p>
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<p>The project, which is being financed by a US$384 million
loan from China Exim Bank, has been divided into two segments. This includes
the eastern segment which comprises the rehabilitation of Harbour View to
Yallahs Bridge in St. Thomas, Yallahs Bridge to Port Antonio in Portland and
the roadway from Morant Bay to Cedar Valley in St. Thomas. Two more
sub-contracts are to be signed to facilitate the overall works.</p>
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<p>The other segment entails the western section of highway
2000 from May Pen in Clarendon to Williamsfield in Manchester, which is to be
undertaken at a later date.</p>
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