An opportunity too good to miss

Monday, June 13, 2011

AMONG the improvements since political Independence 49 years ago, for which Jamaicans can take some pride, is the much greater rigour in the monitoring of governance.

The Office of the Contractor General and the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament spring readily to mind among those bodies that have been demanding and receiving greater accountability from those entrusted with the management of taxpayers’ money.

In that regard, this newspaper views the decision of Prime Minister Bruce Golding to have independent consultants assess work being done under the China loan-funded Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP) as an appropriate response to legitimate pressure.

Of course, the complaints about JDIP are not new. Readers will recall that there were howls of protest from the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) when projects under JDIP were announced last year.

Back then, some Opposition spokesmen dismissed the project as an “election slush fund” designed to strengthen the base support of the ruling party ahead of parliamentary elections constitutionally due next year, as well as local government elections which have already been postponed several times.

Against that backdrop, the only real surprise regarding the current furore surrounding the new road being built to bypass the north Manchester town of Christiana must be that it has taken this long.

Details surrounding the one kilometre Christiana “development road” have been in the public domain for several months — certainly since a high-profile groundbreaking on January 20. A news feature in this newspaper in early February provided considerable detail, including the projected cost then, of US$8.9 million, and the Government’s rationale for the project.

Questions surround the costs — now said to exceed J$800 million — for just one kilometre of road.

Mr Golding himself is reported by yesterday’s Sunday Observer to have said that the gap between original project estimates and the final sum paid out is too wide.

“Too often, projects start out at $10 (million) and by the time you are finished, it breeze past $20 (million),” Mr Golding said.

Finance Minister Audley Shaw, in whose North East Manchester constituency the Christiana road falls, and the National Works Agency have argued that the scope of work — which, as we understand it, includes among other elements, 1.8-metre-wide hard shoulders on both sides, underpasses and culverts — explains the high cost.

Mr Shaw has explained that the road will have great value in developing and expanding the Christiana area and the greater north Manchester. Certainly, no one who has ever driven through Christiana can seriously deny the need for a bypass.

However, many other towns and communities across Jamaica have infrastructure needs that will be perceived by them as being of equal, if not greater, merit.

There can be no escaping the reality that the Christiana road project is in the constituency of the minister of finance. Inevitably, questions must arise as to how the project was selected and whether a fit and proper process was followed.

It seems to this newspaper that this entire episode will have proven to be of immense benefit if, as a result, a totally accountable and transparent way is found to independently determine projects such as those now being pursued under JDIP.

The Government, Opposition and Parliament should not allow this opportunity to slip.