KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Everald Warmington, has voiced disappointment and concern over road conditions in Yallahs, St Thomas, and has again called on local subcontractors to “step up”.

The road is part of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP), for which China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is the main contractor.

“My greatest disappointment was coming through Yallahs itself. It’s a disgrace; it is totally unacceptable what I am seeing there, and it appears that nothing is being done. I am not satisfied at all with anything from the Yallahs bridge right through; there is not one single piece of road that I can say I am satisfied with,” the minister said.

He was speaking during a tour of the St Thomas Eastern constituency on Thursday.

The minister pointed out that he was “very concerned and disappointed coming into St Thomas itself”.

“I miscalculated the time it would take me from Kingston to get here, and I took more than twice the time I expected to have taken from my office in Kingston to here and the cause of this is the condition of the road,” he said.

Warmington said that his own experience has caused him to “appreciate” the concerns of the people of St Thomas, “their disgust, their outcry over this period. I have heard it before, but having experienced it this morning, it caused me to appreciate it”.

The minister explained that the National Works Agency (NWA) is “not the implementing person” for the project.

“CHEC has a contract with the Government, and the supervision of the subcontractors rests solely on the shoulders of CHEC, not on NWA. NWA can give its position [or] instruction, but unless CHEC takes the initiative or does what is necessary to get their subcontractors to perform, there is nothing the Government or NWA can do and this is why we are in this position,” he outlined.

The minister added that this issue with some of the subcontractors is a let-down and “it gives the impression as if we [locals] can’t perform on our own and we need foreigners to come and do this thing, and that is not good”.

“I am calling on our local contractors to pull their socks up and do something properly. Impress us, impress Jamaica. Tell us that you can do the work itself,” Warmington urged.

At the same time, the minister issued an apology to the people of St Thomas and Portland, who are affected by the highway project.

“I want to apologise on behalf of the Government for the inconvenience they have experienced, and we will do whatever is necessary to have it rectified as soon as possible. We have to do something. It was never an intention of the Government to inconvenience the people of Portland and St Thomas. Our intention was to get the inclusion of the local contractors but most of them have not performed,” Warmington said.

– JIS