Preferential Chinese Loan for MoBay Bypass
Published:Monday | December 4, 2017 | 3:06 PMJanet Silvera
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Chinese government will provide a preferential loan to Jamaica for construction of the 14-kilometre bypass for the tourism capital, Montego Bay.
Speaking at the inaugural Mayor's Charity Ball at the Montego Bay Convention Centre last Saturday night, Chinese ambassador to Jamaica, Niu Qingbao, revealed that his government would provide, among other things, a low-interest loan for the long-awaited bypass.
On completion, it should take a mere eight minutes to go around the city centre, which has been a bottleneck for motorists, morning, noon and night.
"The work will be done by a Chinese company, with money from preferential government loan, which is much lower than commercial loan. It is even lower than any other government development loan," Qingbao stated.
Work, he said, will commence in 2018. He noted that the bypass will make movement seamless.
His comments come weeks after Prime Minister Andrew Holness, during the opening of the Porsche Centre Montego Bay, announced that plans for the road had passed the alignment stage and would soon be approved by the Cabinet.
"As it now stands, whether you are in a Porsche or a Lada, it may take you the same time from wherever you are to get here in Montego Bay,"
the prime minister said to resounding response.
Holness argued then that the current traffic situation in the Second City was something that had been consuming the Government's energy.
"I am pleased to report that I have seen the finalised alignment. It took some time to figure out the best alignment, but the final documents now make sense," Holness admitted.
China Harbour Engineering Company will implement the project.