KINGSTON, Jamaica — China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which is the main contractor for the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project, says it will be addressing the issue of underperforming subcontractors.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Everald Warmington, in making the disclosure, said the pace of work and the dust nuisance, remain a major complaint of residents, especially in St Thomas.

Speaking during a tour of the project on Thursday, June 2, the Minister said “some subcontractors are not living up to the responsibility of their contract… [and] where [they] are negligent then China Harbour will step in and have those rectified”.

In a release, the Minister noted that the contract “makes it clear that where the subcontractor is insufficient in performance, China Harbour is obligated to step in and do the work itself”.

At the same time, he said it is hoped that the subcontractors, many of whom are locals, will improve their performance to prevent China Harbour from taking over completely.

Thursday’s tour of the project spanned from Bull Bay in St Andrew to Long Bay in Portland, where the Minister was given a first-hand account of the state of some of the roads.

The Minister was joined by senior representatives at the National Works Agency (NWA), representatives from CHEC and other partners in the project. Warmington said that while “progress comes with some amount of inconvenience at first”, every effort will be made to address the challenges.

Communications and Customer Services Manager at the NWA, Stephen Shaw, said that some of the major challenges being faced by residents should ease shortly.

By the end of summer, some aspects of the roads will be significantly improved from their current 60 to 70 per cent level of completion, he said. This will include the implementation of certain infrastructure works such as asphaltic concrete.

The Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project is being carried out by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with funding from the Government of Jamaica and China Exim Bank.

The project seeks to improve the alignment and capacity of the existing southern coastal main arterial road to make it safe and efficient, free from flooding and provide for future development.

It entails the rehabilitation of approximately 110 kilometres of roadway between Harbour View in St Andrew and Port Antonio in Portland, and the 26-kilometre thoroughfare from Morant Bay to Cedar Valley in St Thomas.

The project also includes the construction of the May Pen to Williamsfield segment of Highway 2000 by the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC).