JAMAICA | Mikael Phillips Flays Holness' approach to St. Thomas Highway Project

KINGSTON, Jamaica. July 11, 2023: The Opposition Spokesman on Transport and Works, Mikael Phillips, MP, says the Prime Minister’s naming of the Chief Executive Officer of National Works Agency (NWA), Mr. E.G. Hunter, to directly supervise the South Highway Improvement Project is a belated and weak response to the issues affecting the project and its deleterious effects on the people of St. Thomas.

In a statement today, Mr. Phillips said the NWA already owns the contract and naming the CEO to supervise it adds no strength to the supervisory and management capacity of the project implementation since it’s already his duty. “The decision is redundant and offers no relief on the horizon for the people of St. Thomas”, said MP Phillips.

The Opposition Spokesman said he had raised the implementation of the road project in several sectoral presentations and offered suggestions for improvement, but none had ever been accepted by the Prime Minister. He said coming now, after years of chaotic project implementation, was ‘too little, too late’ and reflects a knee-jerk response to the chaos of yesterday when the water main ruptured and traffic piled up for several kilometres.

He said apologies for travel delays yesterday should also be made for all days, as the commute to St. Thomas has been characterised by delay, dust and danger for many months.  

The Opposition Spokesman said although the NWA is the agency responsible for the government’s road infrastructure programmes, the St. Thomas project was allowed to proceed with several problems, including issues with local contractors’ performance, late payments and the inability of the NWA to enforce contract provisions including the maintenance of a proper driving surface. The public cannot, therefore, expect improvement from this decision.

 “With such an obvious mess and the growing complaints of residents, the Prime Minister has failed to state the programme of work and timelines to bring order to the chaos which now exists,” Mr. Phillips said. He insists that an independent Project Manager should have been appointed with powers to review and make recommendations on existing contractors and how the implementation will get to greater efficiency in the shortest possible timeframe.

Mr. Phillips said he was calling on the Prime Minister to ensure that his decision to continue using the NWA meets the goal of reducing commuter risks, reducing current travel times and increasing comfort as well as ensuring the completion of the project in a timely and cost-effective manner.

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