Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer

A car whizzes by along the Llandovery main road in St Ann. Several roadways islandwide will benefit from a soon-to-be-rolled-out multimillion-dollar beautification programme. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the Ministry of Tourism will be spending $818 million over the next 12 months to beautify coastal roadways and some major interior thoroughfares.

"The programme will be held to nice up not just Montego Bay, but we will be working on the coastal strip right around the island doing beautification, planting trees, cleaning them up, making them look good not just for the tourists, because there is nothing that is good enough for the tourists that is too good for the Jamaican people," Golding said.

He made his comments during the East Central St James constituency conference held at Success Primary School on Sunday night.

Golding said the facelift would be conducted under the Spruce Up Jamaica campaign.

Rehabilitation plan

"For Montego Bay, we are going to be spending $236 million. In Negril, we will be spending $83 million; in Falmouth, $16 million, and on the stretch from Ocho Rios through Discovery Bay through Runaway Bay, we will be spending $240 million," he explained.

Golding said eastern and southern Jamaica would be included in the rehabilitation plan. Among the areas to be targeted are Port Antonio and Long Bay, Portland, as well as the southern parishes Clarendon, Manchester, St Eliza-beth, as well as Westmoreland.

The prime minister said millions of dollars would also be spent on the thoroughfare that connects Kingston to Spanish Town.

"It is a major corridor which carries the highest volume of traffic anywhere in the island. We cannot leave that out and so we will be spending, on that section, $163 million on various projects to really beautify that area and to doit permanently, not to do little bushing now and six weeks' time it looks as if nothing were done," he said.

"We are talking about permanently installing an image and a face that will gladden the hearts of people who travel there. On the Boscobel to Rio Nuevo (road), we will be spending $10 million and we have a little project down there in Lucea where we are going to be spending $2 million."

Road rehab roll-out

Montego Bay - $236m

Negril - $83m

Falmouth - $16m

Ocho Rios to Runaway Bay - $240m

Port Antonio to Long Bay - $14m

Clarendon, Manchester, St Elizabeth - $54m

Kingston to Spanish Town - $163m

Boscobel to Rio Nuevo - $10m

Lucea - $2m