PRIME Minister (PM) Andrew Holness on Friday reiterated an announcement he recently made during his presentation in the budget debate in Parliament, that the Government will expend resources to ensure that deplorable roads in Newport West in St Andrew are fixed.

Holness was the keynote speaker at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Kingston Gateway Commercial and Warehouse Complex on Marcus Garvey Drive in St Andrew, which has been touted as a state-of-the-art facility to serve the growing logistics sector.

The complex will be a 112,000-square-foot comprising 21 units, each with two floors.

“I acknowledge the ambassador from the European Union, one of our strongest development partners. I am very happy to hear that you are going to be partnering with the Shipping Association of Jamaica to do some developments within the Newport West area. I see certain persons smiling when Newport West is mentioned because it is an area that has suffered from neglect. Unfortunately, that is the case and that cannot be overlooked.

“The truth is that at one point in time, that area, when it was being developed, would have given the country as much hope as this development now is giving, but with the passage of time, the infrastructure in that area degraded and like the story for much of Jamaica as it relates to infrastructure, it was not maintained over a long period of time,” said Holness.

“Tony [Member of Parliament, St Andrew West Central, Anthony Hylton] and myself, we have this debate back and forth in Parliament regarding a phenomenon which we call the orphan roads. These are roads that are not on any particular gazette or register. They were built, probably on development estates, as was the case for Newport West, that was an industrial estate. The road should have been turned over to the local authorities.

“There is a dispute as to whether or not the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) owns those roads or not. Nevertheless, Newport West is a national asset and the Government has an interest in it and so, we have directed the National Works Agency (NWA) to dedicate some resources along with the other partners in the Newport West. I know there is a group collaborating presently to work out the details of how the resources will be mobilised. There will be some movement towards the proper repair of road infrastructure in that area which will only compliment the development of this area for logistics,” added Holness.

On January 8, the Jamaica Observer reported on the tug-of-war over who should fix the bad roads in Newport West.

The problem at the time appeared to be beyond remedy as no entity seemed willing to claim responsibility for fixing the deplorable roads in the shipping community.

Geofrey Ziadie, who owns the tyre company Chad-Ad Distributors, insisted at the time that the Government needed to intervene.

However, Robert Morgan, the minister with responsibility for works, said the fixing of roads within Newport West was not the responsibility of Government. He said the roads are private roads but the Government was not opposed to partnering with businesses in the area to split the work.

Ziadie told the Observer at the time that he doesn’t believe there is any such thing as a private road.

“What I can tell you is that there are not many adjectives I can use to describe the horrible situation of the roads, and the drains, and just the appearance of Newport West — I am embarrassed to call it where I operate my business from. More importantly, this is the entrance to our economy. This is the port of Kingston, where our economy starts to grow from, and this is how our Government leaves the roads?

“All I have heard over my 30 years of being here is that Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation says it is not them and that the National Works Agency is responsible. The NWA says it’s not them and it’s KSAMC’s responsibility. As far as I am concerned, both parties are the Government. Why would it be private? I don’t know of any private roads in Jamaica; I think all roads are manned by the Government. If we don’t get something done really soon, I think it is going to lead to something drastic and might even cost somebody their life if it is not fixed — and I would hate to see that happen. Who would have the onus on their shoulders at that time? Is it the Government?” Ziadie asked in January.