JAMAICA could soon be encircled by a continuous highway network as the Government unveils plans to build a “ring around the island” aimed at closing long-standing transport gaps further exposed by Hurricane Melissa.

“In building resilience, the Government has decided that we’re going to extend the highway from where it ends now in Williamsfield [Manchester] and we’re going to go all the way to connect it to the perimeter road in Montego Bay. So we are going to build a highway that stretches from St Elizabeth, goes through Westmoreland, goes through Hanover, and goes to St James,” Robert Morgan, the minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development with responsibility for works, disclosed at a Jamaica Observer Press Club last Friday.

Morgan also outlined the project as a strategic response to weaknesses in the national road network highlighted by the Category 5 weather system that pummelled sections of the island on October 28.

He said the hurricane demonstrated that, while many of Jamaica’s newer highways proved resilient, the lack of connectivity between major routes created serious challenges for emergency access and recovery operations.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development with responsibility for Works Robert Morgan speaking on Friday during the Jamaica Observer’s Press Club at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue, St Andrew headquarters. Photo: Karl Mclarty

However, he explained that resilience goes beyond how well roads are built, pointing to the need for a fully connected network that allows traffic and emergency services to move seamlessly across parishes.

“So we have done highways, but they have not been contiguous…We have done the south coast highway, but it doesn’t connect to anything. We have done the north coast highway, but it doesn’t connect to anything…

“So let’s just look at it, you have the connection that goes from Harbour View to Morant Bay to Yallahs to Port Antonio, but what connects Portland to St Ann? We’re going to fix that,“ Morgan explained. “Then you have the north coast highway which connects St Ann to Trelawny, but there is no highway that connects Trelawny to Hanover — we’re fixing that,” Morgan explained.

Under the proposed plan, the Government will focus on linking existing highways through a series of new routes and bypasses, creating what Morgan described as a “contiguous ring around the island”. This includes determining alignments from Black River to Savanna-la-Mar, alongside bypasses for Lucea, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, and Mammee Bay.

The minister further explained that the need for such connectivity became especially clear when sections of the interior road network were blocked, forcing delays in delivering aid to some southern and western communities after Hurricane Melissa.

“It’s going to build resilience, because when you have a highway — as you saw what happened in the hurricane — we were good all the way to Lacovia, when the aid reached Lacovia, you could not go through Holland Bamboo, and there was no alternative that was easy for us to drive through, so the Prime Minister [Andrew Holness] had to fly to Black River and then it took us several days to chop through the bamboo…to reach places like Whitehouse [Westmoreland] and so on,” he said.

“But if you had a proper highway, like we have from Kingston to Manchester, then you would not have an issue getting aid quickly to the people. So the strategic decision of the Government is that we have to connect the highways in some way, shape, or form,” added Morgan.

He noted that several components of the wider plan are already under way, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding with China Harbour Engineering Company for the Mammee Bay bypass, the start of work on the Port Antonio bypass, and ongoing studies for the Spur Tree bypass. Preliminary planning has also begun for the Lucea bypass.

While the full cost of the highway ring has not yet been determined, Morgan said the project will form a key part of the Government’s broader reconstruction and resilience strategy, working in collaboration with National Works Agency, National Road Operating and Constructing Company, and the newly announced National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority.

Addressing concerns about whether Jamaica has the resources to undertake a project of that scale, Morgan said capacity would grow once there is clear demand, noting that markets tend to respond when long-term plans are laid out.

“From a systems perspective, capacity is not something that occurs without need. The market supplies what the market thinks there is a need for, so as we project to the market — international companies, local companies — this is the plan that we’re doing, this is how we’re going to do it, we’re going to see people increasing their capacity,” he said.

He encouraged local contractors to position themselves to benefit from the expanded construction programme, while stressing the importance of partnerships with international firms.

“Jamaican small contractors cannot compete with these multinational global entities, but they have an advantage in that they know Jamaica — they know the culture, they know the society, they know the topography, they know the geology, they know the hydrology,” Morgan said.

“The pie is big enough for local contractors and local builders to get a good piece of it, but they have to come with a valid proposition that gives value to the people of Jamaica, where it’s not that we’re just giving you work because you’re Jamaican; we’re giving you work because you can do it — you’re professional, you’re effective — and I know we have a lot of good companies out there,” he added.

An aerial view of the May Pen to Williamsfield leg of the East-West Highway.