KINGSTON, Jamaica—Mayor of Kingston Andrew Swaby has pushed back against comments made by Minister with responsibility for Works Robert Nesta Morgan, accusing the minister of responding to his criticism regarding the establishment of the One Road Authority with personal attacks.

Morgan, this week, expressed disappointment at what he says are contradictory and misleading statements made by Swaby, regarding the establishment of the One Road Authority.

Morgan described as “factually misleading” a May 13 statement made by Swaby at a Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) meeting, where he claimed: “It is still not clear how the establishment of the One Road Authority will address the issue of inadequate financial resources for local authorities. There has been no clear indication on how municipal corporations will gain access to increased allocations needed to properly maintain and rehabilitate roads under our responsibility.”

READ: Morgan says mayor’s statements on One Road Authority misleading

Morgan also pointed to further complaints that local authorities “are simply not funded at the level that allows us to properly maintain roads under
our care.”

Speaking in response to Morgan’s criticism, Swaby said: “I’m not surprised by Minister Morgan’s outbursts. He’s playing from his usual playbook, where whenever anyone makes a positive criticism, he tries to become negative and personal.

“You’ll remember last year when Leader of Opposition Mark Golding made some comments about the state of garbage in Jamaica, and he tried to embarrass the leader of opposition,” Swaby added.

The mayor further questioned whether the proposed One Road Authority would provide additional resources to local authorities, such as the KSAMC.

Swaby said the KSAMC receives an average of $85 million monthly from parochial revenue funds to address road-related matters, but argued that the allocation is insufficient to meet the demands across Kingston and St Andrew.

“The average cost to repair a road in Kingston and St Andrew falls anywhere between $6.5 million to $8 million,” he said. “If we receive $85 million per month, it means that we only can fix 10 to 13 roads out of the 40 divisions in Kingston and St Andrew.”

He noted that the funding is not solely used for road rehabilitation, but must also cover hurricane mitigation efforts, employment programmes and other municipal responsibilities.

“Even if we had received the $85 million just to do road work, rehabilitation or patching, it would not be enough to satisfy Kingston and St Andrew. Approximately 70 per cent of the roads in Kingston and St Andrew fall under the KSAMC and 30 per cent falls under the NWA,” Swaby said.

He said the KSAMC often undertakes repairs in downtown Kingston business districts despite those roads being under the NWA’s responsibility.

“I’m not satisfied with the state of roads in Kingston and St Andrew and that is the reason why I am speaking up,” Swaby said.

The mayor also raised concerns about property tax distribution, stating that local authorities receive only 7.5 per cent of property tax collections, while the majority is directed to the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

“We were both elected to serve in the best interests of Jamaicans. Let us spend our time doing that, other than calling names or describing persons,” he added.