KINGSTON, Jamaica – The main contractor on the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP), China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), has now implemented a system to receive strict milestone-based reports from the subcontractors on the project.

Making the revelation, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC), Everald Warmington, said that the reports are to be submitted to CHEC weekly.

He was speaking to journalists during a tour of St Thomas Western on Wednesday.

“So, the subcontractors have to complete a particular scope or amount of work that is set for them. If it is not [done], there are other considerations that will be taken. They have a strict schedule that they have to meet and this is why we are confident that we’ll have the project completed, if not on time, very close to the timeline,” the minister said.

Noting the concerns of residents regarding the pace of the work, the minister pointed out the intricacies of the project, and that the Government had recognised the need to implement an extensive drainage system, water lines, sewer lines and fibre-optic cables, along the road network.

“So [in the] future, you don’t have to come back and cut up the place and dig up again, we do one dig,” Warmington explained.

“This is what is going on. We are putting in all the infrastructure, all the facilities that are necessary [to] improve a modern community, and this is opening St Thomas for future investments. In the next few months when this is completed, it will be a different St Thomas. So, we appeal to the people to be patient with us,” he added.

Moreover, the minister maintained that most projects under the SCHIP are close to completion, such as Hordley to Long Road in Portland, which is 89 per cent complete and should reach full completion this month.

In addition, most of the other roads are scheduled to be completed in March, 2023, according to Warmington.

The SCHIP is the Government’s flagship road project, being executed in three parts: Part A – May Pen to Williamsfield – 28 kilometres (km); Part B (ii) – Harbour View to Yallahs Bridge – 17.4km; and Part B (iii and iv) – Yallahs Bridge to Port Antonio and Morant Bay to Cedar Valley – 123.65km.

The project seeks to improve the capacity and alignment of the existing southern coastal main arterial road, to make it safe, efficient, free from flooding and allowing for future development.