KINGSTON, Jamaica – Work on the Llandewey bridge in Yallahs, St Thomas, is expected to begin soon, under a $51-million contract.

This was revealed by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC), Everald Warmington, during a tour of sections of St Thomas Western, on Wednesday.

“I’m hoping to be back here with Mr (James) Robertson, the Member of Parliament (MP), to break ground to commence the construction,” the ninister said, at the bridge, which has collapsed.

Noting the other bridges and breakaways within the constituency, such as the Easington bridge, Warmington added that, “those I’m going to ask the ministry to move expeditiously to scope and price, so that they can be addressed”.

Wednesday’s all-day tour stretched from a meeting point at Harbour View in St Andrew to as far as the Mahogany Vale bridge in the hills of St Thomas Western, passing through the districts of the Blue Mountain range, such as Riverhead, Richmond Vale, Richmond Gap, Albion Mountain, Mount Vernon, Bethel, Hagley Gap, Ness Castle, Penline and Morganville.

In the meantime, Robertson pointed out that the St Thomas leg of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement project is progressing.

“We have conquered the coast. [This tour] is to see the second phase of our development of the East and West – how we’re going to face the challenges of the hills,” he added.

The touring party also included representatives from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), the MEGJC, the National Works Agency (NWA), the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the Municipal Corporation and members of the media.

After visiting 22 districts served by five schools, Minister Warmington noted that most road structures are “in very bad condition” and would need special resources to be addressed.

He said that from Mount Vernon to East Rural St Andrew, there are a total of six breakaways and that he had given instruction to have them scoped and designed.

“To date, I’m told that three of the designs are completed. I believe we have to take some immediate actions to try and correct what we have there now… we’re looking at cutting down part of the embankment to widen what is there, so that it would be much easier for vehicular traffic to traverse there,” the minister said.