Bids close for multibillion-dollar SPARK Programme in August
Published:Wednesday | May 22, 2024 | 8:16 AM
The award of contracts to carry out the multibillion-dollar Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement (SPARK) Programme is expected to be done by September 30, 2024.
Prequalified bidders, including international and local companies, will be required to submit bid proposals by August 15 this year.
Providing an update yesterday on the SPARK Programme, Prime Minister Andrew Holness urged members of parliament to carry out the consultation exercise with constituents to determine the roads that will be selected for repaving.
He said the consultation process has started with meetings in nine constituencies in Kingston, St Catherine, Clarendon and St Elizabeth. Holness said that nine constituencies are being targeted per week.
“Based on the consultations held to date, approximately 70 roads identified in consultations have been referred to the NWA to be scoped and costed,” he said.
Holness indicated that the road selection process should be complete by the end of June.
In a statement to the House of Representatives, the prime minister divulged that six local and four international construction companies participated in the pre-bid meeting for prequalification. However, he said that additional companies could submit proposals by the closing date.
Contracts will be done in four packages of approximately equal value. The first package includes constituencies in Kingston, St Andrew and St Thomas. In the second package, focus will be placed on St Catherine and Clarendon while Manchester, St Elizabeth, Westmoreland and Hanover fall in the third package. The fourth and final package includes St James, Trelawny, St Ann, St Mary and Portland.
Work will begin with the first allocation of $10 billion. Of this sum, each constituency will be allocated approximately $150 million.
With the verification of the length of the roadways further allocations will be made under SPARK based on the ratio of the kilometres of roads in the constituency relative to the national figure.
According to Holness, this will lead to a more equitable distribution across the island taking into consideration that some constituencies have more roads than others.
Under the two-year SPARK Programme, works will include pavement resurfacing, sidewalk rehabilitation, drainage improvements, retaining wall construction and intersection improvement, among others.
The SPARK Programme aims to create a safe, reliable and resilient road infrastructure that enhances mobility and connectivity, supports economic growth and ultimately improves the quality of life of Jamaicans.
The programme also forms the basis of a comprehensive road infrastructure management strategy including the development of a comprehensive register of all roads and an alignment of engineering lifetime schedules with budgetary allocation.