TransJamaican Highway Limited (TJH), which operates the Highway 2000 East-West corridor of Jamaica’s toll roads, is reporting that 2019 was its best year ever in terms of traffic and revenue but the entity now faces a dilemma in forcasting for the end of the fiscal year.

While the company recorded revenues of US$53.28 million and profits of US$8.3 million to round off a good 2019, it is unable to give any credible projections for the remainder of the current fiscal year because of the uncertainty caused by COVID-19. In its just-released 2019 annual report, TJH detailed the negative impact on its operations caused by the safety protocols put in place by the Government of Jamaican (GOJ) to better fight against the spread of the global pandemic and how this has hindered its business forcasting.

The protocols were outlined in orders promulgated pursuant to the Disaster Risk Management Act, including islandwide curfews, a temporary lockdown for the parish of St Catherine, “work from home” order, closure of the country’s borders, postponement of the start of the school year and transitioning students to online/distance learning. TJH reports that the consequences of these measures were immediately reflected on its traffic pattern usage.

This had an immediate knock-on effect of a reduction in traffic on the east-west highway, resulting in a reduction of 52 per cent in traffic in April 2020 when compared with April 2019. TJH has been the concessionaire of the Highway 2000 East-West corridor since 2001, Jamaica’s first toll road and the largest infrastructure project in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Its core business activity is the development, operation and maintenance of a toll road network in Jamaica known as the “Highway 2000 East-West”, a 49.9km tolled motorway with two distinct corridors: T1 – 43.45km between Kingston and May Pen and T2 – 6.5km between Portmore and Kingston.

SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT IN TOLL USAGE SINCE MAY

As the number of new COVID-19 cases in the island slowed, and the quarantine was lifted on May 1, TJH recorded an improvement in the traffic reduction to 34 per cent in May 2020, and then further improvement by 17 per cent in June 2020. This was followed by single-digit reductions in July and August of 2020, both reporting nine per cent and seven per cent respectively, when compared to the previous year.

The month of September 2020 saw an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the announcement that Jamaica was now experiencing the community spread phase of the virus. Along with this announcement came a tightening of the measures put in place by the GOJ to include earlier curfew hours, which contributed to the 14 per cent decrease in traffic compared to the prior year.

Given this situation, TJH has not revised its financial projections for the rest of this year because of the unpredictability of the measures that may be taken relating to COVID-19.

Despite a significant upturn in traffic between July and September of this year, TJH points out that “the trend remains highly dependent on any new measures that could still be implemented by the Government of Jamaica in the coming months to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

GOOD 2019 FINANCIAL OUT-TURN

In his message in the annual report, company chairman, Charles Paradis, boasted that “over 24 million vehicles utilised the toll road, which is a continuation of the performance experienced over the last six years with total volume of vehicles growing at a 4.9 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2014-2019.” He explained that the positive trend was expected to continue in 2020, as the company experienced growth of 1.5 per cent in January 2020 and 2.8 per cent the following month of February, when compared to the same period of 2019.

“This all changed with the arrival of the COVID-19 global pandemic in mid-March 2020,” the TJH chairman said. Paradis highlighted that during this difficult period, TJH was forced to analyse its business operations.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS AFTER COVID-19 CRISIS

The TJH chairman is looking forward to the number of development opportunities available to TJH on which the company intends to execute once this health crisis is over. According to Paradis, “Whether in Jamaica, where many road projects are about to see the light of day, or elsewhere in the Caribbean, the experience acquired by the TJH team will enable us to position ourselves as a leading player in the realisation of major infrastructure projects, concerned with sustainable development and serving the progress and well-being of the population.”

TJH operates four toll plazas located at May Pen, Vineyards in Old Harbour, Spanish Town and Portmore, providing service and a road network that is maintained to international standards for the benefit of our customers.