PM pledges to ease discomfort as SCHIP progresses
Grants Pen to be transformed after concerns that bypass would kill economy of community
Published:Friday | April 14, 2023 | 1:36 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has acknowledged that dust, concerns about access to properties, and the condition of the driving surface are the main areas of discomfort among residents as work continues on the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) between St Andrew and St Thomas.
“In terms of managing the dust nuisance, we have agreed that the contractor and NWA will increase both the wetting and the supervision of wetting, to ensure that the dust nuisance is controlled,” he told journalists during a tour of infrastructure projects on Thursday.
Holness said that instructions have also been given to ensure that residents access their properties with “relative comfort”.
He described the issues with the driving surface as “intractable”, because contractors need the surface to be in a scarified state in order to properly lay drainage infrastructure.
“What I have said to the NWA – and I’m sure they will give directions to the contractor – is that there should be at least one lane that is drivable and that means that the surface should be relatively smooth … . My presence here today is to give assurance to the residents that the pace of the work will step up and that we will be moving towards completion very quickly,” the prime minister said.
He added that the discomfort that residents have had to experience is a sacrifice that is going to bear fruit for generations.
He restated that the Bull Bay Police Station, which is located directly in the pathway of the St Thomas leg of the project, will be relocated.
“If it is not relocated in short order, it will delay our scheduled timeline of completion by August. We have taken the decision that the station will be relocated.
Temporary facilities will be put in place,” Holness said.
Residents of the area have been expressing concern about the future of the station, which is the sole structure still in the path of the highway in the Bull Bay area.
“It is a security risk. We are very cognisant of that, but I think we have made the provisions to ensure that the relocation of the police station does not impact the security concerns, particularly in Bull Bay,” he added.
Holness said that while potential facilities to accommodate the police have been identified, a selection has not been made yet.
However, he revealed that they have settled on the temporary structures that will be put in place.
“It is a solution that is pre-built, so they now have to actually find the place to put the pre-built station, which will be temporary,” Holness said.
Some 260 parcels of land were acquired and approximately 180 structures have been relocated to facilitate construction of the highway.
Meanwhile, Holness said the Government will put in a J$40-million access road to Grants Pen, to benefit some 500 residents.
St Thomas Western Member of Parliament James Robertson said he intends to develop the community into a fishing village with entertainment, food and rest-stop facilities.
“It was really a community where the truck drivers and people would stop before taking the last hill back to Kingston … . What has happened for all our districts along this thoroughfare is a game-changer – a dream that has come true for me, for them, a 160-year dream since Paul Bogle,” Robertson said.
Meanwhile, the 14-kilometre stretch from Harbour View, St Andrew, to Albion, St Thomas, is expected to be completed by the end of August.
National Works Agency CEO E.G. Hunter disclosed during the tour on Thursday that 8.5 kilometres has already been paved.
“The extent to which weather affects the progress is something that we are very conscious of, but we are very optimistic that we should be able to meet that timeline,” he said.
Hunter shared that there has not been a significant increase in the project cost because of delays “largely because the project is denominated in US dollars”.
“The original contract was a road-only contract and, after discussion with the Government, the decision was taken to completely redo the project and it is now what we consider to be a full infrastructure project,” he said.
Water supply will cost an additional US$97 million and the inclusion of a jersey barrier on the St Thomas leg comes at a cost of approximately US$5 million.
“We will be coming out nothing more than probably a seven per cent above original price,” Hunter said.
The cost of the project was estimated at US$384 million in 2019.