MINISTER with responsibility for works Robert Morgan is confident that Jamaicans will enjoy a smoother ride on many of the major roads across the island this Christmas and into the new year with the recently launched $1.6-billion Graded Overlay Emergency Road Rehabilitation (GO) Programme.

According to Morgan, the GO Programme should not be considered an extension or continuation of the Relief, Emergency Assistance and Community Help (REACH) initiative, which has launched with a $3-billion budget in 2024 to repair widespread road damage caused during the passage of Hurricane Beryl and subsequent weather events.

“The GO Programme will prioritise roads where pavements have been damaged by flood waters, corridors with heavy pothole formation affecting safety and traffic flow; routes linking major towns, markets and agricultural areas; and roads that serve as primary access points for emergency services and essential supplies,” Morgan told a recent meeting of the Jamaica Observer Press Club.

He pointed out that work has already started on some of the major corridors in the Corporate Area including West Kings House Road.

Morgan explained that although plans to fix previously damaged roads were already in motion, Hurricane Melissa accelerated the need for the GO initiative.

“Most of the roads are at end of life so regardless of what happens, you’re going to have to patch roads because you do not have the resources to fix every road at this time, which is why the GO Programme came about. We recognise that the Government does not have the resources to fix every road,” he said.

He noted that a large portion of the $1.6 billion allocated to the GO Programme’s will be spent in St Elizabeth, St James, Trelawny, Hanover, Westmoreland, sections of St Ann, and Clarendon.

Morgan told Observer editors and reporters that the implementation of the GO Programme will be led by the National Works Agency (NWA). He said the road repair will be carried out in phases, starting with the first set of corridors in December with additional packages to follow early in 2026.

“The GO Programme is part of the wider recovery initiative, which includes medium-and long-term reconstruction projects under other capital programmes,” Morgan said as he accepted that despite this expenditure the Government will face some criticisms from people’s who do not see the roads they travel on daily being patched.

“You are not going to win on roads,” declared Morgan.

“What you’re going to win on is development. As time goes by and we push out these programmes…you had the REACH which took us to a point, then you have the GO Programme which is going to take us to another point.

“In parallel, you have the SPARK [Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement] road rehabilitation programme which is fixing a lot of the community roads and going to begin works on the main roads, and then you have the consistent NWA programme which is fixing certain roads over time” added Morgan.

He noted that while the money allocated under the REACH programme has been spent, the $45-billion SPARK programme is well under way with 62 roads paved to date; 58 being in progress; works mobilised for another 27 roads.

Morgan told the Observer Press Club that six work orders, representing 267 roads in all 63 constituencies have been issued to date with more to come.

“We should be at about 280 roads completed by the end March 2026,” Morgan said as he pointed out that approximately $5 billion has been spent so far under the SPARK programme with the bulk of the money going toward major road.

“It’s a whole series of actions you have to be doing because no one programme is going to solve the problem for everybody,” added Morgan who is on a quest to improve the quality of roads across the island.

The logo for the Graded Overlay Emergency Road Rehabilitation (GO) Programme