Minister of Local Government and Community

Development, Desmond McKenzie, says an additional $30 million is to be added to

the road budget for the parish of St. Ann.

Speaking at a St. Ann Municipal Corporation

meeting in St. Ann’s Bay on Thursday (October 10), the minister emphasised that

the additional $30 million is not to be splintered but should be used on major

road projects.

He called on councillors to ensure that

when the funds are disbursed for the roadworks, they can point to at least four

roads where the people can feel proud that the work was done, and “the roads

can stand up to the test of time”.

The minister said the money will be

disbursed based on the recommendations of the technical team within the Local

Government Ministry.

He also commended municipalities across the

island that have utilised roadwork funds appropriately.

Meanwhile, McKenzie informed that the Local

Government Ministry will be reviewing the island’s road network.

“There are over 25,000 kilometres of road

network in the country that fall under the control of local government, and we

will never have enough funds to deal with [all] of them. We are reviewing the

road network, because some of the roads that are listed no longer exist,” the

minister said.

“Once we have done that, we will be in a

much better position to look at the real needs of our roads,” he added.