STATE-RUN National Works Agency (NWA) is planning to install closed-circuit television cameras and radios in the Bog Walk Gorge before year-end to enable real-time response to emergency conditions.

This was announced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday by Richard Azan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing.

Labelled the Bog Walk Gorge Attention System,

the cost of project is valued at US$273,000.

“I am pleased to announce that this system is being realised through the public/private partnership which brings together funding from the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with support from telecommunications companies FLOW, Digicel and LIME, through the provision of access to their fibre-optic links and communication towers,” he said.

According to Azan, the project will: enable real-time detection of and response to emergency conditions, such as flooding and major accidents within the gorge; facilitate real-time video monitoring of control gates before, during and after an emergency; provide early warning for motorists and communities with the potential for flooding within the gorge; and provide advance warning of gorge closure to the public.

He said there would be support from the police, the Ministry of Finance and Planning, and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).

Azan also said the NWA’s road safety strategy for 2013/14 will include improvements to road signage and markings. There will be the installation of 500 traffic signs and 225 linear kilometres of road-marking lines.

The NWA will also be constructing sidewalks and medians at the Papine circle in St. Andrew, and 1.5 kilometres of shared (multi-use) paths for pedestrian and bicycle traffic along the Norman Manley Boulevard in Negril, Westmoreland.

These improvements, which will be funded under the IDB/Government of Jamaica Road Improvement Programme, will involve the installation of guard-rails.

“Guard-rails are an important feature of our roads, as they assist in the overall safety of road users. Unfortunately, whether through accidents or wilful action, we have been losing them,” Azan said.

“We have been looking at some best practices elsewhere and have come up with a plan to utilise cables in selected areas around the country. To this end, this year we will be spending US$985,000 on a guard-rail programme, to include the installation of cables,” he said.

He explained that the cable system will allow for a higher degree of flexibility, even after an accident.