Warmington unhappy with work of local SCHIP contractors in Portland

Eastern Portland:

Local contractors assigned to the Portland leg of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) have come in for criticism for what Government Minister Everald Warmington has labelled the unsatisfactory work being done by them.

Warmington, who toured sections of Eastern Portland on Wednesday with Member of Parliament Ann-Marie Vaz and a technical team from the National Works Agency, made it clear that he was not the least bit impressed with the work being done by the local subcontractors.

Warmington, who is minister withouth portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, said he was simply not happy with the performance of the local contractors who, according to him, were not fulfilling their responsibility, resulting in China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) taking over aspects of the project.

CHEC, he said, was now carrying out the necessary remedial work on the roadway.

“I must say upfront that I am not pleased with the performance of our local contractors. The problems that we have on that highway ... the problems are caused by our local contractors who are not fulfilling their responsibility,” Warmington said.

“Another area, where they are not wetting the project (road) to keep the dust down, China Harbour has now started to do it. There are areas (roadways) that China Harbour has started to resurface themselves. Within the contract, if a subcontractor does not perform, then China Harbour is obligated to take over that project and to complete it,” added Warmington.

The state of the roadway in East Portland has created undue hardship for residents living in the various communities, along with motorists, who mounted roadblocks on March 6, and on May 1, in protest over the bad road condition and a prolonged dust nuisance.

It is against that background that Warmington has sought to reassure residents in East Portland, who are plagued by bad road conditions and a prolonged dust nuisance, especially in the areas of Fairy Hill, Boston, Drapers, and Anchovy, that CHEC has now intervened in the project and is already undertaking the necessary works.

CHEC, which has overall responsibility for the project, based on a government contract, is in charge of the roadwork on the Southern Coastal Highway, from Harbour View in St Andrew to Port Antonio, via St Thomas, which is currently under construction.