Omar finds flood repair money

The Cabinet last week approved the drawdown of $147 million from the Road Maintenance Contingency Fund and a further $50 million from the Tourism Enhancement Fund to repair infrastructure damaged during recent flood rains which affected St Mary and Portland.

Minister of Transport, Works and Housing Dr Omar Davies made the announcement last Tuesday in the House of Representatives. It was his first appearance in the House since late last year, due to illness.

According to Davies, the restoration and reconstruction of the road network should begin immediately.

"The major areas for attention are Grants Town, Jacks River, Canoe Pond to Airy Castle and Day Mountain, all in the parish of St Mary."

Davies said it was estimated that the permanent restorative works for roads in St Mary alone will be approximately $161 million. He said a total of $197 million was estimated to finance reopening and restorative work.

In a ministerial statement on the damage to the road network and associated structures due to flood rains associated with a tropical depression, Davies disclosed that as at last Tuesday, over $6 million had been spent to clear 32 of the 33 blocked roads in the parishes of St Mary and Portland.

"As part of the emergency response, and being acutely aware of limited fiscal space, my ministry has had to find ways to finance the restorative works without seeking additional resources from the finance ministry."

Davies said 33 main roads across St Mary and Portland were affected by the rains. These, he said, included breakaways in Grants Town and Jacks River.

Recognising that immediate and urgent action was required on the part of the ministry to first reopen the roads and then conduct permanent restoration works relating to vehicular and pedestrian movement to the affected areas, Davies said the National Works Agency was mandated to use its resources as well as private contractors to respond to the emergency.

The Road Maintenance Contingency Fund was established to carry out emergency works and is funded through a five per cent allocation from the fuel cess.