Prime Minister Andrew Holness launched the Government’s ambitious $45-billion road and infrastructure development project on Monday in Harbour View, St Andrew, promising that it will be subjected to strict accountability standards and will give Jamaicans value for money.

“Like any other capital programme, accountability starts at the beginning. Before you embark on the construction journey you have to be clear what it is you are going to construct and the standards you are setting. The SPARK programme has those standards clear, and therefore the contractors know what they are going to be held accountable for,” Holness said at Everest Road where work started on the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) Programme.

More than 600 roads across 63 constituencies have been identified as being in need of repairs under what has been described as the largest road and infrastructure project in Jamaica’s history.

“There are certain measures that are put in place to ensure the contractors maintain the standards; for example, a performance bond. Also, there is a defects liability period. Those are standard in National Works Agency (NWA) construction contracts,” Holness said.

He pointed out that the NWA will have the responsibility of monitoring the project throughout its expected two-year period.

The project’s contractor is China Harbour Engineering Company.

“The contractors know that if there is any fault due to their doing, they will have to pay for it, either at the end of the project when the defects liability period kicks in, or during the project when their insurance would kick in,” Holness said.

“Outside of that, the NWA must supervise, meaning they must come to the sites, look, check, and where there are issues, point them out early,” he said, even as he acknowledged that that may be an area of weakness, given the number of road projects currently underway across the island.

“The NWA staff is stretched, which is why I mentioned in my initial presentation that the Government now has to look at increasing the capacity of the NWA to support all of the projects that are on Government’s capital programme,” Holness said.

In addition to SPARK, the Government has embarked on a $3-billion comprehensive national road rehabilitation initiative labelled Relief Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH).

Announced by Holness in August this year, REACH is designed to address critical road infrastructure needs across the island with a specific focus on damage caused by recent weather events, including Hurricane Beryl, as well as the execution of routine road maintenance.

Earlier in December, the prime minister announced a further allotment of $2 billion under REACH to begin urgent repair work.

Initially Holness had announced that SPARK would commence in the constituency of St Andrew Western. However, on Monday he explained that the roads being repaired first are those that require the least intervention.

“There are some roads that require massive retaining walls, the laying of pipes, big water mains, and we may have to acquire lands and that may elongate the process. If we were to take on a road that requires all of that then we probably wouldn’t start until the other year,” he said.

“We intend to start rapidly right across the island. We are starting today, so other communities and constituencies can expect, in short order, a mobilisation of work assets within their areas for the roads for which they have expressed interest in seeing rehabilitated,” the prime minister said.

“This road went through a process of consultation. Each constituency was required to hold a consultation where interested members of the public could come and voice their concerns. My constituency, West Central St Andrew, held the last consultation and I faced my constituents who made their demands, their recommendations and requests regarding roads, and we created a long list. From the long list, the NWA, the councillors, and other interested parties went through and came up with a short list,” he explained.

Stating that SPARK is designed to ensure that Jamaica’s road network is in the best state, Holness said the programme is divided into two elements — community and major roads.

“The element we are launching today is the community road element. When we say community roads it could be parish council roads, roads in housing schemes, subdivisions or roads that are not considered main [thoroughfares],” he said, adding that the community aspect will cost $20 billion, while another $20 billion will go towards those roads considered to be of national strategic interest.

“We had two years of planning, up to this point, from we announced the programme in Parliament to doing all the planning work, all the public investment assessment work, all the procurement and contracting work. For me to stand here today took just over two years,” Holness said.

“For this programme, there can be no criticism that we shorted the programme. We went through it, and we went through it as an example for other projects. We had consultation with the public and we went through all the processes. This is a solid project and we are confident that you, as the Jamaican people, will get value for money,” Holness said.