The new phase of the Government’s Relief Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH) Road Repair Programme is to focus mainly on parochial roads in Kingston, St Andrew, St James, Clarendon and Manchester.
A statement from the National Works Agency (NWA) said the works got under way over the weekend.
The agency said its Communication and Customer Services Manager, Stephen Shaw, announced that approximately $150 million will be allocated to repair over 70 roadways across the five parishes.
“Mr Shaw stated that the works will be extended to other parishes in (the) coming weeks, and that the final selection of roadways to be targeted under this phase is being finalised,” the NWA stated.
The REACH Road Repair programme is a $3 billion investment by the Government to rehabilitate roadways across the island, with specific focus on the damage caused by weather events, including Hurricane Beryl in July, as well as the execution of routine road maintenance.
The programme, which is being implemented in phases, commenced in August, with the current phases scheduled to be completed by the end of November, the NWA informed.
Another phase of the programme is the clean-up aspect, which Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for works, Robert Morgan, told a post-Cabinet press briefing earlier this month is valued at $1.5 billion. This phase focuses on, among other things, vector control, particularly in Portmore, St Catherine, where Morgan said “a lot of earth drains” are located.
Source: National Works Agency – Jamaica