Dear Editor,

The rumblings about the JDIP programme have grown louder. PNP officials demanded and received the resignation of Mr Patrick Wong and the minister of transport and works. They also want the minister of finance to resign and the contracts to be renegotiated. I am nervous, because if the present PM continues in this new JLP direction, he will ask the entire Government to resign to satisfy persons whose agenda seems to be still unknown to him.

One aspect of the auditor general’s report that seems to excite the Opposition is the increase in costs over when these estimates were first made some seven years ago. It’s called inflation. But some of these increases could reflect new strategies for the construction and maintenance of our road infrastructure. Audley Shaw cites two legs of the North Coast Highway that had total cost overruns of US$162 million when his detractors were in power.

About eight years ago, I was stopped at a road construction site. The young supervisor was a disciple of the most feared man in that part of the parish. One person was spreading marl and 23 ‘workers’ were sitting on a wall nearby. Three chains further, rain had already washed away about 20 feet of the recently constructed roadway.

It was during those times that a new bridge spanning the Yallahs River was completed. That bridge is now comfortably ensconced at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, ushered there by the waters of the following rainy season. All that remains is the story of the unlettered peasant who waded through the sea of officials at the opening of the bridge to accurately predict, to the then PM, the fate of that monstrosity constructed in the name of engineering. Could someone remind me of civil society’s reaction and how many officials resigned?

No one is more annoyed than I am at the slow pace of road repairs. But this annoyance is tempered by the fact that for the first time in our modern history, our roads are being properly built. The old system of spreading a thin film of asphalt and giving it a quick roll has been costly — not just in monetary terms — but in lives and livelihoods as well. This is one of the greatest obstacles to our development.

I am of the view that Mr Patrick Wong is a good and decent public servant. I think he was sacrificed on the altar of political expediency and I hope he has a good attorney. I did not think Mr Mike Henry could manage this project. That does not mean that he is corrupt. In fact, none of the 60 MPs in Parliament can manage it. Longevity in politics does not qualify one to manage large engineering projects (LEPs).

Do they understand the relationship between institutions and strategy, risk management and corporate governance in general? We are not just talking about project engineering and management. There is the engineering of institutional arrangements and strategy systems which are even greater determinants of JDIP’s success.

The JDIP is the largest, most complicated undertaking of its kind in our history. It involves construction pricing and contracting, financing of construction facilities, economic evaluation of facility investments, labour, material and equipment evaluation, design construction processes, organising for project management, selection of professional services, advanced scheduling techniques, cost control monitoring and accounting, quality control and safety during construction.

Experts in myriad specialties are needed. The person with overall responsibility for all this must understand how the different parts of this process fit together. Does the PNP ‘team’ know this? Does the auditor general understand this?

I cannot speak to the corruption charges that plagued these projects during the previous administration. But it cannot be denied that waste, excessive cost and delays and the resultant substandard road construction contributed greatly to our indebtedness. So, whenever I see drainage structures and appurtenances designed and sized by professional engineers, and all planned underground facilities affecting roads being installed and properly backfilled before pavement is constructed, I am very hopeful that the days of poor road construction are behind us. Specially trained independent specialists are required to manage these operations — not popular politicians.

Political representatives are too often called upon to assume responsibility for a range of matters they know absolutely nothing about. They sometimes end up with unfair charges of theft and corruption. This should stop! A qualified, independent person employed to oversee the JDIP project should systematically plan the course of action for achieving the objectives within the stipulated time in the most economical manner with utmost safety. He/she could reveal misunderstandings and mischief, remove contradictory assumptions and establish clear, unambiguous targets.

Large engineering projects are not just larger small projects. They are high-stakes games characterised by irreversible commitments and high probabilities of failure. It is difficult to overstate the importance of the road network to the lives of all Jamaicans. It plays a much bigger role than the other forms of transportation and connects them all. Public and private use of it underpins our ability to participate in employment and enjoyment. Access to it is not just of economic importance, but an important equity issue. Let’s not turn this one into a political football.

Glenn Tucker

Stony Hill

Kingston 9

glenntucker2011@gmail.com