JAMAICANS can expect to see a push on the rehabilitation of pothole-riddled main roads across the island over the next five weeks.

This will form a part of Government’s move to remedy the deplorable conditions of several main roads under the $5-billion Relief Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH) Programme.

Stephen Shaw, communications and customer service manager at the National Works Agency (NWA), made the announcement at this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper’s head offices on Beechwood Avenue in St Andrew.

According to Shaw, before he arrived at the forum he participated in an internal meeting at the NWA at which the discussion surrounded moving quickly to treat with a $2-billion portion of the money allocated for the REACH programme.

“There are some nuts and bolts that we are trying to tie down… The intention is to blanket the country over the next five or so weeks in terms of the main roads. This now is not community roads, this will be main roads, like Spanish Town Road [in St Andrew] and the road from Naggo Head to Hellshire [in St Catherine]. We are going to be targeting main corridors to ensure that persons are able to traverse Jamaica in a more comfortable way,” Shaw said.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness recently declared the state of the island’s roads a national emergency and announced that an additional $2 billion would be allocated to the REACH programme to begin urgent repair work.

Although the REACH Programme will overlap with the $45-billion Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement in our Road Network (SPARK) Programme, it is a separate initiative. The SPARK Programme is one of Jamaica’s largest-ever road and water repair initiatives.

Robert Morgan, minister with responsibility for works, told editors and reporters at the
Monday Exchange that the prime minister has been very clear that the Government is going to do what is necessary to give the public relief from the road challenges.

He said the Government will be engaged in a “continuous road rehabilitation push that is going to last over probably the next 12 months”.

“SPARK is also a part of it. We are spending a record amount of your tax dollars to ensure that this happens. We are putting in some accountability mechanisms to ensure that contractors and ourselves are held accountable.

“We will be launching a section of the SPARK website, on the instruction of the prime minister, where persons can report what is being done under SPARK. We have the e-mail address, ask@SPARKJamaica.gov.jm where persons can send in their questions and queries,” said Morgan.

He added: “Very shortly, Jamaica Information Service will be assisting us in creating various social media portals, not just for SPARK, but for people who see potholes being repaired that are not being repaired properly. They can reach out to us at the NWA or they can go to SPARK Jamaica on X, formerly Twitter, and send us the pictures.

“These are all mechanisms to boost confidence that you may have in the work we are doing. We do not necessarily have the ability to be everywhere at the same time. The citizens can assist us with repairing the roads properly by helping us to hold ourselves and the contractors accountable.”