Golding

FRANKFIELD, Clarendon:

Prime Minister Bruce Golding is assuring Jamaicans that repairs to bad roads will commence as soon as the bad weather affecting the island for several weeks ends.

Addressing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters at the North West Clarendon constituency conference at the Edwin Allen High School in Frankfield on Sunday, Golding said the Ministry of Transport and Works, as well as parish councils, had developed programmes which would see the entities working together to fix poor roads.

"As soon as the rain eases up - and we are hoping that it will be this month - we want to start a programme of repairs on the roads islandwide," said the prime minister.

Secured funding

He added that the Ministry of Transport and Works and parish councils had secured sufficient funds to enable the start of the repairs, and that additional funds were to be put in the supplementary estimates.

Golding pointed out that immediately after the passing of Tropical Storm Gustav in August, Finance Minister Audley Shaw went to Washington and was able to secure from the Inter-American Development Bank a loan at low cost, to the tune of US$50 million, to get the road repairs started. He further explained that the funds from that loan were to be disbursed for the start-up of the repair programme later this month.

Bridge repairs

However, the prime minister warned that half the money borrowed from the Inter-American Development Bank is to be used in the construction of the Harbour View bridge and another in St Mary, which collapsed during the earlier part of the hurricane season.

"The other $25 million will be going into the programme along with other funds that we have identified," said Golding.

- George Henry