PM labels Jamaica's poor roads national emergency, allocates $2 billion for repairs

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared Jamaica's deteriorating road conditions a national emergency and has announced the allocation of $2 billion for immediate repairs.

“It is indeed a crisis and every Jamaican is of that view and it should be dealt with as a crisis, as an emergency,” Holness said. 

He was speaking at the signing ceremony between the Government of Jamaica and the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for the $45-billion Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) Programme on Thursday. 

The SPARK programme aims to upgrade Jamaica's infrastructure, with a focus on improvements to road networks and water systems, with works expected to begin this month. 

But Holness explained that this $2 billion allocation is an extension of the $3 billion Relief Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH) programme, which provided funds to repair roads damaged by Hurricane Beryl in July.

However, he said the National Works Agency (NWA) will be solely responsible for managing the implementation of the additional funds. 

“This programme will be entirely national directed. The NWA will supply the Cabinet with the list of main roads, main thoroughfares that are severely affected, and we expect that we will use this $2 billion to reinstate that critical network. So its high volume traffic areas, critical connecting points, economically sensitive roads, that we will give the initial focus on,” he said. 

Jamaica's poor road conditions, worsened by recent heavy rains, have become a major headache for motorists, who have been vocally expressing their frustrations with the state of the roads.

- Sashana Small

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.