THE National Works Agency (NWA) and National Water Commission (NWC) have come in for commendations from China Harbour Engineering Company’s (CHEC) for their work on three soon-to-be completed major road projects, despite strong criticisms of the two agencies from members of the public.

There have been numerous complaints, from residents and motorists in the areas where the road works have been done, about the long delays, the absence of directional signs and the frequent digging up of freshly paved roads.

But in a letter to the Jamaica Observer yesterday, Dangran Bi, country manager for CHEC in Jamaica, expressed his gratitude for the support of the two State agencies on the Constant Spring and Hagley Park roads in Kingston and the Ferris to Mackfield Road in Westmoreland.

“The Corporate Area projects have been fraught with their challenges, including work disruptions and the rupturing of extremely old and fragile pipelines. During these disruptions, we have seen where the NWA and NWC have made every effort to respond in a timely fashion to work with us to rectify these situations and get the projects back on track quickly,” said Bi.

“Also, with the roads remaining open to vehicular traffic while the work progressed, the NWA along with the Jamaica Constabulary Force was key in ensuring that the traffic of [more than]20,000 cars daily continued to flow and people were able to get to their destinations while we worked to improve the roadways,” added Bi.

According to the CHEC country manager, the responsiveness of these agencies was a vast improvement from what prevailed years ago in their working relationship.

“Without their support, CHEC would not have been able to complete these projects which included constructing one of the largest bridges across the Caribbean in Three Miles. We must also thank the citizens for their patience over the past 18 months as we worked to improve the thoroughfares that they now enjoy. We all have areas that we must improve upon, but we also must express our gratitude when it is deserving and in this case, it is,” said Bi.

He added: “As a company, we are looking forward to our 2020 projects which include the highly anticipated Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project. This will turn a much-needed spotlight on eastern parishes like St Thomas and Portland.

“We pledge to continue to provide world-class infrastructure to our clients, and where necessary, work closely with partner agencies such as the NWA and NWC to provide Jamaicans with the quality infrastructure that they deserve.”

CHEC’s footprint in Jamaica is slated to expand in the coming years with several projects under the Greater Infrastructure Development Programme (GIDP) which was signed last year.

The GIDP is expected to bring unprecedented infrastructure development to Jamaica and is intended to succeed the soon-to-be concluded Major Infrastructure Development Programme.

It is intended as a comprehensive infrastructure programme, which will include not just road works but water and sewerage development, as well as, multiple bypasses for several major towns.