CDF group gives thumbs down to cheap road rehab

Members of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Committee of Parliament are supporting the withholding of approval for road rehabilitation or maintenance projects that seek to utilise marl or so-called chip-and-spray fixes.

The committee decided on Tuesday not to green-light three projects in the St Elizabeth South Eastern constituency of Member of Parliament Franklyn Witter that are in need of rehabilitation on grounds that the methods would not constitute value for money.

The roads in question are Mount Pleasant ($1.6 million), Retirement ($2 million), and Fairmount ($1.6 million).

Errol Lebert, of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, said it was intended for the three roads to be fixed on the recommendation of Witter, who sought an estimate from the municipal organisation.

Lebert said the decision to apply marl on the roads was based on several factors, including approximate unit cost of $800 per metre square. Other methods, he said, would have been three times the cost.

The municipal official explained that marl was chosen, as against micro-surfacing or asphalting, because farm roads with sparse vehicular traffic would take longer to deteriorate.

The St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation maintains more than 2,000 kilometres of roads funded from motor vehicle licensing.

However, committee Chairman Juliet Holness said she strongly believed that the parliamentary oversight body should not consider, at the CDF level, wasting state taxpayer money on marling roads because it was unsustainable.

“The CDF is not of the view that we should be using our CDF funding for chip and spray because we usually follow the guidelines of the National Works Agency (NWA) and the technical expertise that it exhibits in determining how we function,” she said.

Holness’ concern also has to do with the lack of standardisation across government agencies in the rehabilitation of roadways, citing the differences among the NWA, the municipal corporations, and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.

“I believe that we have a strong responsibility as MPs to appreciate that the monies being spent by the Government are the people’s money,” she said.

NWA representative Andrew Sturridge said the lack of budgetary support was fuelling the use of cheaper rehabilitation methods.

paul.clarke@gleanerjm.com