KINGSTON, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness broke ground for the $2.4 billion Braeton to Naggo Head Road Project under the Government’s Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) Programme on Wednesday.

Addressing the gathering, Minister with responsibility for Works Robert Morgan, said the project, which will last for 16 months, is part of the integrated development occurring in Portmore and across the Corporate Area.

“We are 99 per cent finished with the Grange Lane project, so we are doing this one now, and we will soon be doing the one colloquially known as the Portmore Entrance, which is right on Mandela Highway. It also includes, as part of the CAPEX expenditure, Arthur Wint Drive, Lady Musgrave and several other CAPEX projects, including the rehabilitation of the Sandy Gully and its tributaries. This represents about $30 billion in investment by the Government in capital expenditure over the next three to five years,” he stated.

In his address, Holness noted that Portmore is becoming a self-generating and self-contained economic entity, with businesses attracting employment, including a growing BPO, as well as growing commercial, retail, manufacturing and entertainment sectors.

He added that housing is also ‘literally exploding’ in the municipality.

“What we have done in the creation of the Bernard Lodge project is significant. We could have 10 to 15 thousand housing units in addition to an urban centre, which is going to be created there. So what you don’t want to do is to build the houses, and then try to fix the roads, because that would be a disincentive for people to actually want to come and live. You want to build the roads so that people realise that traffic is seamless”, he stated.

This growth, accompanied by the ‘locally generated traffic’, the prime minister continued, makes the building out of critical corridors in Portmore essential.

“So the idea is to build out the urban road infrastructure within Portmore, so that it eases traffic, increases convenience but places Portmore to be an excellent economic hub in Jamaica, and that is really in advance of Portmore becoming a parish”, he stated.

The project runs for approximately three kilometres from Naggo Head to the intersection of Braeton and Hellshire Road to the final turn off into Greater Portmore. It will be a four-lane roadway with raised median and traffic signals at the relevant locations, adequate sidewalks, drains and water lines, as well as ducts for fibre optic cables as part of the National Broadband Initiative.