$2.6m bus shed causes jaws to drop at CDF meeting
Published:Wednesday | February 2, 2022 | 12:12 AM
The proposed construction of a bus shed at a cost of $2.6 million in the constituency of St Ann South Eastern, for which Lisa Hanna is member of parliament, brought the approvals process of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) committee to a screeching halt when it came up for mention on Tuesday.
The process had been going smoothly, with Chairman Juliet Holness listing the projects and going through the assessment and approval routine when she stopped in her tracks.
“Construction of the Moneague College bus stop, Phase One, the budgeted amount is $2,625,128? No, I am not smiling director. It is just that we don’t have the time (but)I would love for us or us to delve into this project. What kind of bus shed is for $2,625,128?” she queried.
And the explanation by CDF Director Kedesha Campbell, of the Programme Management Unit, did not mollify the CDF committee chair.
Campbell said she was guided by the St Ann Municipal Corporation, which conducted the estimates, and that she did not have the authority to override assessments done by technical experts.
“However, what I can recall with this project, having reviewed it, is that it needs a retaining wall where the bus shed will be. There has to be a retaining wall and hence the cost,” she said.
Holness said that that there should have been a clear distinction between core and auxiliary costs.
“Anybody hearing in the public that a bus stop for $2,625, 128 … that could construct a house. So I think we need to be a little clearer with this one,” Holness said.
However, Campbell explained that the original cost of the project was actually much higher, at $3,972,000, but Hanna did not have the funding at her disposal to complete it. She was then advised to do the construction in phases, with construction of the retaining wall being Phase One.