'You just don't get it, minister!' - Knight chides Vaz over $800m roadway
Published:Wednesday | June 15, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer
OPPOSITION SENATOR K.D. Knight says information minister Daryl Vaz does not seem to understand the controversy surrounding the $800 million to be spent on just over half-a-mile of roadway in the North East Manchester constituency of finance minister Audley Shaw.
Addressing People's National Party (PNP) supporters in Bamboo, St Ann Sunday night, Knight said already there was a cost overrun on the project.
"Minister you don't get it, you don't understand it. When people are complaining about it, minister, it's not that they don't understand the importance of a piece of road to help with the development of any part of Jamaica. But minister Vaz try and understand what they are saying. They are saying $800m for half-a-mile of road!"
Knight said the $800 million does not include the cost of acquiring the land to build the road "so minister there is an overrun already!"
"Nurses can't get pay, teachers can't get pay, police can't get pay, but them building half a mile of road for $800 million. We need a restoration of faith and confidence in our country," said the former security minister.
The cost for the road was revealed on June 1 from executives of the National Works Agency (NWA) during a meeting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament.
The CEO of the National Work Agency, Patrick Wong disclosed that the Government will spend US$9 million to complete work on one kilometre (0.625 mile) of roadway in Christiana.
Vaz has sought to defend the expenditure. But Knight offered some words of advice to him.
"I'm going to try and help you now. Don't tell Jamaica that sometime in the past on some road there was an overrun under the PNP administration.
"What you need to do is re-compute the figures and get it to the correct figures that tax bearers should bear."
Knight suggested that Vaz, rather than comparing events with the past, he should give the people the change that was promised during campaigning for the last general elections in 2007.