TROY APATHY

The head of the National Works Agency (NWA) says the private sector has shown no interest in two tenders to construct a replacement bridge in Troy, Trelawny, after the previous structure collapsed two years ago.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NWA Everton G. Hunter told members of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) on Wednesday that his agency put to tender the construction of a bridge on two occasions in the last six months, but received no response from the market.

“If you scrutinise the Website of the Public Procurement Commission there are no Grade 1 bridge contractors so we had to expand the category to include civil engineering or whatever and we still did not get any response from the marketplace,” he disclosed.

His comments brought little comfort to PAAC committee chairman, Mikael Phillips, who has been agitating for the replacement of the collapsed bridge for the past two years.

Before the bridge was extensively damaged it served residents and commuters travelling between the parishes of Trelawny, Manchester and St Elizabeth, including students and teachers at the nearby Troy High School.

He said the government has allocated $3 billion in the budget this financial year to deal with the construction of bridges.

Phillips on Wednesday again voiced his disappointment with not only the fact that funds had been allocated for the bridge, but not spent owing to delays in the procurement process, but also the new concerns regarding the seeming lack of interest by players in the market to build bridges.

Phillips is the Member of Parliament for Manchester North Western where his constituents have been severely impacted by the collapsed bridge over the past two years.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Arlene Williams told the PAAC that she was very optimistic about the construction of a bridge in Troy, Trelawny and the Craig Mill bridge in Portland.

“We know of your angst, we see your agitations, and we are aware and so what I want to say to you is that we have been working very closely with the Public Investment Appraisal Branch in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and by the end of this week we should have the proposal being submitted to them and thereafter it is really on a fast-track,” Williams said.

She led senior technocrats from the ministry who fielded questions from lawmakers on the Third Supplementary Estimates which was examined by the PAAC.

Williams pleaded for a “few months” to “pull it together and make it happen”.

NOT COMFORTING

However, Phillips said her remarks were not “comforting to him” having waited two years and the project was yet to get started.

Hunter argued that it was not only procurement issues that mitigated against efficient implementation of the project, but the inability of the marketplace to be able to respond to the different requests made by the NWA.

He said that China Harbour Engineering Company could probably construct the bridge, but it was not registered as a local company “and so we are prohibited from using them in that regard”.

Financial Secretary Darlene Morrison gave the assurance that the issue regarding the construction of a new bridge at Troy will be addressed as the Ministry of Finance engages the NWA to come up with a solution.

However, Hunter indicated that the challenge was the lack of take-up by the private sector.

“If the capacity does not exist in the private sector all the rules and regulations and the speeding-up and whatever you just will not get the output that is desired,” he said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told lawmakers in October 2022 that the government was moving to fast-track the process to have a new bridge installed at Troy in Trelawny.

“I have seen the situation regarding the Troy Bridge and I am following it. I have been briefed that the designs [for a new bridge] are complete. My understanding is that they are about to go to procurement soon ...

“The Government of Jamaica takes these situations very seriously and it is not our intention for the people to believe that their plight is not considered as serious and, therefore, ... I am going to be personally visiting Troy. I will make the arrangements,” Holness said at the time.

However, The Gleaner understands that the prime minister is yet to make an appearance at Troy.

editorial@gleanerjm.com