OCHO RIOS, St Ann – The Ministry of Transport and Works is spending $13.4 million to undertake a major road-patching programme covering the main road leading from Ocho Rios to Port Antonio, and several roads leading off.

The work, which began in January, is to be completed by April of this year and will cover 13,600 square metres of main road and 13,000 square metres of detour road.

Minister of Transport and Works Robert Pickersgill made the announcement last Friday during a tour of Port Maria, St Mary, to view the road patching work being undertaken in the town.

The minister said the contract to patch the main road was awarded to E Pihl and Son AS of Denmark, while the National Works Agency (NWA) would be responsible for the work on the detours before handing them over to the contractor for maintenance.

The detour roads include roads leading from White Hall to Chovey; Chovey to Aqualta Vale; and Port Maria to Islington to Albany.

Pickersgill said repairs to roads in Port Maria signified a promise kept by Prime Minister P J Patterson, who, in breaking ground last December for the start of segment three of the North Coast Highway, said repairs would have been undertaken.

Port Maria, the St Mary capital, has been the ire of motorists who have witnessed the roads deteriorate over the years to a state where they were considered unbearable.

Mayor of Port Maria Robert Montague had complained bitterly in the past about the poor conditions of the road in his town.

Pickersgill said the work in Port Maria was to a large extent complete, except for a few potholes.

The work, which started last month after a survey of initial repairs was done in December, is being done in accordance with conditions of the contract of the North Coast Highway, he said.

The Minister said that upon completion, the north coast highway would open up the north-eastern section of the country, fostering economic diversification and growth in the tourism sector.

Other benefits, he said, would include reduced vehicle operating costs, less time spent on cross- island travel, a decrease in incidences of flooding and related damage to road surface and, hopefully, a decline in the number of lives lost to motor vehicle accidents.