NWA says St. James to Trelawny road work could cost $1 billion

 

The National Works Agency says it could cost $1 billion to repair the road from Westgate Hills in St. James to Wakefield, Trelawny.

 

Tranpsport operators on Monday withdrew their service in protest over poor road conditions, leaving commuters stranded for several hours.

 

NWA Communication Manager Stephen Shaw said the agency is looking at different funding options to repair the road, adding that it would not be able to repair the 20-kilometre long corridor all at once.

 

Mr. Shaw admitted that the road, which links several communities in St. James and Trelawny, is in urgent need of attention. 

 

"It is because we have been doing small bits of work along the corridor why I believe it's not worse than it is because it's not 100% of the stretch, which is in a poor state. We have sections that have been rehabilitated and are in reasonably good condition. But as a corridor generally, we would need to give it some attention, especially the stretch between Westgate and let us say Irwin, or maybe up to Orange, we need to give that some focus," he explained. 

 

Mr. Shaw added that a section of the road leading to Porto Bello is in a poor state due to a faulty drainage system in the area.

 

He believes the issue with the drainage system is caused by commercial activity in the area.

 

"The water would have been prevented in some respects from getting into the river because there are developments that are on the riverside that prevent the flow of water going into the river," he suggested, citing the developments as "construction type entities, block-making entities, sellers of aggregate, sellers of concrete".

 

He was speaking Tuesday morning on the NWA's programme, On Our Roads, aired on Power 106 FM with host Jodi-Ann Quarrie.