KINGSTON, Jamaica – Opposition spokesman on finance and planning, Audley Shaw, has threatened to go ahead and formally open the Christian By-Pass Road in Manchester which has not been officially declared as accessible to motorists since 2012.

Shaw warned the government Tuesday, while speaking in the new State of the Constituency debate at Gordon House, that “if the minister of transport, works and housing doesn’t come and officially open the Christiana By-pass Road soon, I am going to open it myself”.

“I will be the guest speaker if I have to do it. I am simply giving him one last chance to come and set up the formal opening,” he stated, adding that he would invite Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to the opening

OBSERVER ONLINE understands that until the Manchester road is formally opened, there are legal implications for users and the police monitoring traffic on the roadway.

 Shaw has frequently complained in the House of Representatives about the failure to officially open the road, which was built under the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP) at a cost of approximately $900 million. It was informally opened to access in 2012.

Despite the slump in the economies of the south central Jamaican parishes, including Manchester following the closure of the Kirkvine and Alpart refineries, Shaw has insisted that there are “new vistas of opportunity” as a result of the construction of the two-lane road which was part of the original China/JDIP plan.

It bypasses the congested Christiana town square, and is expected to help bolster development in the area, which, outside of Mandeville, is widely considered the largest financial hub of the parish.

Balford Henry