The following is the text of the Speech delivered by Minister Mike Henry at the Contract Signing Ceremony, held at the Ministry of Transport and Works on Tuesday, November 25, 2008.
As a result of the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav in late August of this year, and the subsequent wide-scale damage to much of the infrastructure across the Corporate Area and, to a lesser extent, further a field in the countryside, there have been loud calls for repairs to be effected to the damaged infrastructure. The process of responding has taken some time, but now we are actively addressing a significant number of the needs out there, which is why we are gathered here today.
Immediately following Gustav, there were challenges with the continued impact of the hurricane season, which necessitated a virtual freeze on road repairs, to ensure that we minimised the prospect of having to re-repair newly repaired roadways.
In respect of the gully network across the Corporate Area, we noted the extensive damage that was done by Gustav, and set about prioritising the needs, while sourcing the necessary funding to adequately respond to the situation. Approaching the end of the hurricane season, we have been able to mount a significant response to the Gustav damage, amounting to over $1.4 billion across the Corporate Area and a number of rural parishes. The funding is being provided by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
Quite a number of the contracts involved have already been signed and mobilisation is at various stages in terms of the rehabilitation process. Today we are intensifying the overall effort with the signing of a number of the remaining contracts, again, mostly for the Corporate Area, which was more significantly affected by Gustav.
Today’s signing involves the following contracts:
| Olympic Way - Waltham Park Road | $95.4 million |
| Upper Benson / Shortwood Drive / Cassava Piece | $71.6 million |
| McGregor Gully / Langston Road | $74.8 million |
| Shoemaker Gully / Eastwood Park / Waltham Park Road | $82 million |
| Liguanea Prep / Washington Close / Waterloo Road Ford | $87.1 million |
| Red Hills Boulevard | $22.7 million |
| Graham Close, Cherry Gardens | $16.2 million |
| Nine Turns | $25.5 million |
| Tivoli Gully (Spanish Town Road - Marcus Garvey Drive) | $28 million |
| Skyline Drive | $24 million |
| Mispah to Allison | $27.5 million |
| Bombie to Allison to Cobbla | $28.9 million |
The listed contracts have been awarded to the following contractors:
- Surrey Paving and Aggregates Limited
- Chin’s Construction Limited
- Enviro Planners Limited
- Dwight’s Construction Limited
- Y. P. Seaton & Associates
- S. Green & Associates Company Limited
- S.G. Simpson Asphalting Company Limited
- Jatlin Construction and Associates Limited
- Alcar Construction and Haulage Company Limited
- SWC Woodwork and Construction Limited
These contractors have all been charged with ensuring timely and efficient execution of the terms of the contracts, in keeping with what this ministry is about. No shoddy work will be tolerated, nothing below the standards which have been laid out by the ministry, and that, if nothing else, I can be quoted on!
From the overall Tropical Storm Gustav Works Programme now on stream, we have targeted the most significant areas of infrastructural need across the country, for rehabilitation. This programme has been augmented by other existing programmes, to help to significantly restore much of our damaged infrastructure.
For persons in areas affected by damaged roads, we thank you for your patience in holding strain. We are mindful of the difficulties that such roadways pose and are doing everything to minimize if not eradicate these challenges. These contract signings here today will be the start of fixing the situation. Of course we recognize the importance of good roads to the country’s economic, physical and social development. Against this background, we call for your support in helping us to sustain this partnership between you in the various communities and us the government in facilitating these interventions.
We have many more challenges ahead of us, which we are continuing to attend to. We can’t get all the problems resolved in the short term, but we are doing our best to make life more comfortable for our communities and people in general.
Thank you very much
