Local engineers urge gov't to take integrated approach to road maintenance

 

With the government set to review the mandate of the National Works Agency, the Jamaica Institution of Engineers is calling for the Andrew Holness-led administration to take an integrated approach to maintaining the country's road network.

 

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness last month said that the government will be reviewing the role and functions of the NWA because the agency is not able to effectively manage the road repair crisis.

 

Speaking Thursday on TVJ's Smile Jamaica, Colin Porter, President of the Jamaica Institution of Engineers, noted that the NWA is responsible for the main road network, while parochial roads are the responsibility of the local authorities.

 

He believes the country's roads will be better maintained if the government treats them as one integrated network. 

 

"If we're moving ourselves our goods from Kingston to Mandeville, we go from Spanish Town Road and we integrate into the A1 Road or one of the other roads seamlessly. So for the average person on the road, they're not thinking this is an A1 Road or A2 or a parochial road. So we think for efficiency sake, it should be looked at as one network so that we can plan in a structured way and anticipate when maintenance is needed and carried out," he proposed.