IRWIN, St James — The Montego Bay Perimeter Road project, which includes a four-lane, 180-metre long, 30-metre high bridge, has not only provided jobs for locals but also the transfer of technological knowledge, according to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness. He said the long-awaited project, which is being done by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), is halfway to being completed.

Touted as one of the Government’s Jamaica 60 legacy projects, it will include what the prime minister described as “possibly the longest bridge in Jamaica”.

“The arrangements that have been put in place to ensure that local workforce and local talent is integrated, I think those arrangements have to be commended. I saw young people working as labourers, but also working as engineers, as site managers, [and] as foremen,” stated Holness.

“We have ensured that our local population here is getting exposure to the technology and the required skills that will be left behind and will be available for other projects,” added the prime minister.

He was speaking with reporters after a tour of the project on Wednesday.

Holness is particularly pleased about the $45-billion UWI/CHEC Collaborative Material Testing Laboratory constructed by China Harbour and slated to be handed over to The University of the West Indies (The UWI) after the road project is completed. The lab, which is used for testing material, will also serve as a training facility for engineering students of The UWI and its academic staff.

Holness sees it as another long-lasting legacy of the road construction project.

“It will be used for research as well as a commercial lab to assist other projects that will come in the area,” he explained as he sought to justify the lab’s price tag.

“I want to say to the people of Montego Bay that the Government is trying to strike the right balance between the development of infrastructure that is going to drive rapid growth and the development of infrastructure to support the development of communities. That’s a fine political balance that has to be struck because there are many communities that have been suffering for decades with bad roads and we have put in place a budgetary allocation of over $45 billion to build this lab,” added the prime minister.

Earlier this year, $10.2 billion was allocated from the country’s budget for the perimeter project. As outlined in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure, the funds went towards acquiring the remaining parcels of land needed for the Montego Bay and Long Hill bypass road construction and completion of detailed designs for the Long Hill Bypass and Barnett Street/West Street intersection.

On Wednesday Holness pointed to benefits to be gained from the project.

“You are using less time in unproductive exercise being stuck in traffic — the congestion in the town. This road will ensure that people who work in the BPO sector and the hotel sector can get to work on time; leave work feeling not so distressed. It also ensures that our visitors are able to move from hotels to attractions and back to their ships or aircraft. It will improve overall productivity and efficiency and that will make the economy grow; and as the economy grows then we will have more revenue to put more money into the community roads,” he argued.

“The Government recognises the delicate balance that we have to do these major infrastructures and we also have to fix your community road that passes your gate. But in order to fix the road that passes your gate, and the water to your house, we need projects like these that are going to improve the overall economic productivity that will generate more economic activity and that is what we have been doing,” Holness explained.

Work began on the 14.9-kilometre Montego Bay Perimeter Road project in 2019 and despite initial delays caused by the relocation of people living within its route, the project is expected to be completed in March 2028. The US$274.5-million project includes construction of the Montego Bay Bypass, accompanied by a comprehensive drainage study; the Barnett Street/West Green Avenue Road Rehabilitation; and the Long Hill Bypass. The project is being implemented by the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC).

— Anthony Lewis