WORK should soon begin on the North Gully project in Montego Bay, which has been shunned in the past because of pressure from extortionists.

During a recent visit to Montego Bay, transport and works minister, Bobby Pickersgill, said that the contract had already gone before the National Contracts Committee and would soon go before Cabinet for approval.

“The National Contracts Committee has looked at the contract and will be making its recommendation to Cabinet,” he told the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce. “And so soon as we get that, it will go by way of the infrastructure committee … and then to Cabinet. That work is long overdue and should begin within a month or two.”

In January, the Observer reported that some major contractors had been shying away from the project because of the volatility of the area as well as pressure from extortionists. Other contractors, Observer sources said, had simply added the extortion fees to their bids, sometimes pushing up the contract cost by as much as $100 million.

The problem of extortion on infrastructural projects is not new to Montego Bay, as similar problems were experienced on the South Gully Drainage Improvement project.

The North Gully’s King Street fording was damaged during heavy rains last January and two large slabs of concrete that have been wrenched from their foundations now perch precariously near the roadway. The flood-prone area is sometimes impassable and poses a major inconvenience for motorists as well as area residents who have staged at least two demonstrations to press