Dark roads and crooked paths

We have seen a pattern of transactions by this Government in negotiating major contracts where hugely important elements of these contracts are hidden from the public view ... .

So, Peter Bunting has been leading the shout for the parliamentary opposition that the rehabilitation of roads under the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP), certainly in its first phase, is being done in a partisan manner.

Bunting, the member of parliament for Central Manchester, boycotted the launch of the road programme in the parish last week when he realised that eight of the 11 roads listed for rehabilitation are in the constituency of Audley Shaw, the minister of finance.

Members of the Government have not denied that there is a heavy bias to roads in constituencies represented by the Jamaica Labour Party. But they have skilfully spun their propaganda to say the roads in JLP constituencies have to be repaired first, because they were neglected by the People's National Party (PNP) when it formed the government for 18 consecutive years, beginning in 1989.

But we are not surprised by the claims and counterclaims, which we believe will only get louder. Even the blind could have seen that this was the way the implementation would have taken place, as governments and political parties are like parsons who 'christen their pickney first'.

That is why we blame the Parliament for blindly giving its approval for a government guarantee of a loan of US$340 million, from the China Export Import Bank to the Road Maintenance Fund (RMF), for the rehabilitation and maintenance of roads under the JDIP. We believe that, had Parliament refused to entertain the guarantee until it was clear about certain things under the JDIP, we would have seen a smoother, more transparent road programme.

Parliament should not have guaranteed the loan until it had called in the National Works Agency for a full explanation about how roads are to be selected. Such an explanation should have been accompanied by the maintenance and rehabilitation record of all roads being contemplated for attention. We believe this is necessary, especially given the fact that the loan is to be repaid from the fuel tax and, with the auditor general opining that ministerial interference caused the RMF Act to be breached, Parliament should have found it necessary to demand greater oversight for this project.

We also believe that by failing to outline strict criteria for the award of contracts to all subcontractors under the JDIP, Parliament has unwittingly helped to pass funds to contractors without Contractor General Greg Christie being able to monitor. We know that China Harbour is the main contractor, but there is no doubt in our minds that, unless the process of selecting sub-contractors is transparent and fair, the JDIP will become nothing more than the largest political funding source in the history of Jamaica.

Full disclosure

Aside from Central Kingston MP Ronald Thwaites, who opposed the guarantee on the grounds that Jamaica cannot afford to take on so much debt at this time, all other MPs agreed to subject Jamaica to greater levels of debt.

Sure, there is a need for better roads and, sure, our gullies, drains and rivers must be properly channeled so that they do not undermine the infrastructure that is being repaired. But it cannot be that our parliamentarians approve projects because they could represent the key to them being returned when an election is called.

Our representatives must be told that it is time they stop guaranteeing loans solely on the basis that they are important. The country must know the full details of everything the loan is to fund. After all, it is us, even those unborn, who will have to repay these loans.

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