THE Government is expected to spend between half a billion and $1 billion to repair the road infrastructure damaged by the passage of Tropical Storm Rafael which caused significant flooding, blockages, and landslides on sections of thoroughfares across the island on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who made the disclosure during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday, said this was a preliminary cost as the Administration was not yet in a position to give definitive figures as the damage assessment is ongoing.

He said the funding for the repairs is likely to come from the $5-billion contingency fund, which the Government has put in place to respond to disasters as they occur.

The weather system, which passed near the western coast of the island Tuesday afternoon, impacted more than 30 roads, according to the National Works Agency (NWA).

Providing a preliminary report on the impact of the storm, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic, Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for works Robert Morgan said that generally while there was damage “it wasn’t as significant as what we have seen before with the likes of [Hurricane] Beryl.”

“So we must be thankful. We didn’t lose any roads really, but we had some significant landslides particularly in West Rural St Andrew, we had some landslides in northern and several other communities,” he said, noting that the NWA was in the field completing its assessment of the damage.

Morgan said that in the general appraisal of the damage, 15 roads were totally blocked and 10 flooded.

He noted that there was minor damage to some roads which resulted in seven single-lane situations, where there was only single-lane access; while in terms of major damage there were about two totally impassable roads.

He said some of the most impacted areas include the White River corridor in St Ann; Agualta Vale, Broadgate and Toms River in St Mary; Mount Airy, Golden Spring, Stony Hill, Noland Hill, and Chesterfield Drive in St Andrew; Troja ford. Worthy Park, Ewarton, Bog Walk Gorge, Big Pond, and Sligoville in St Catherine.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Holness assured Jamaicans that the Government is working behind the scenes to have a comprehensive response to the road situation in Jamaica.

“We are going to fix your roads and when it is done it will be transformational and like everything else that we have done, it’s not a patch response; it is building systems in place that will become institutions, that will endure, that will solve the problem over the short, medium and long term,” he said.

Touching on the vexed issue of procurement and the length of time it takes to get projects, particularly road projects going because of associated delays, the prime minister stressed that lawmakers need to take a second look at “that entire administrative bureaucracy that has been put in place, given the urgency and crisis that we have with our roads”.

He added: “So we must take a second look at the procurement process. It’s hard for me to say to someone who is dropping in a pothole every single day that they are going to work, that yes, your road is in procurement and I’m not just talking about the procurement phase; its from the investment phase, right through to the contracting, which includes the procurement to the actual work being done,” he said.

— Alecia Smith