JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

**Tuff Gong** · 06-06-2011, 01:36 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

The road is a new road, in a very difficult place to construct roads.
The road required two bridges and approaches, plus land acquisition.
The road was designed as part of a World Bank Study in the 70s, it was then thought that Christiana needed a second road, to take the load off the one main road in Christiana.

The price (from what I heard), is comparative with a similar section of Highway 2000, with no bridges cost nearly the same.

Blackstar* · 06-07-2011, 05:47 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

Interesting that those details don't appear in the Gleaner article.

Anyway, more on the roads:<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-size: 11pt">Protest in St. Elizabeth against bad roads</span>
2011-06-07 13:35:56 | (2 Comments)

Residents this morning mounted roadblocks, in the vicinity of Rocky Hill, on the main road between Santa Cruz and Lacovia in St. Elizabeth.

The roadblock was mounted as early as 7:30 am.

According to residents, the roadway has not been fixed since the 1980s.

One taxi operator said the residents will continue protests until the matter is addressed.

The police have cleared the road. Source </div></div>

**Tuff Gong** · 06-08-2011, 12:15 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Interesting that those details don't appear in the Gleaner article. </div></div>

Thankfully the Gleaner Co.is not the GOJ.

Blackstar* · 06-09-2011, 02:07 AM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

Jamaica Gleaner Online
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 11pt">Christiana Road Could Be Worth It</span></span>
Trevor Samuels, Contributor

I am sure that many persons who are giving opinions on the controversial Christiana road project have never tried to walk or drive through that town on any day of the week, especially on a market day. If they had, they would better understand why the project is necessary. Christiana, with its single main street, has almost reached its peak for development and the town cannot expand further unless room is created for that purpose. It does sound expensive, but since I am not in a position to justify the cost, I hope that it stays within the budgeted amount and the money is honestly spent.

A bypass road for Christiana is not a new concept, as it has been talked about for more than 50 years and could be the last chance for Christiana to grow. When the road from Williamsfield was being rebuilt in the 1970s, the idea was that a bypass road was to be built around the town to take the improved road to Coleyville and beyond. It was said then that it was too expensive, so the idea was shelved and the road ended back through the main street, adding to the chaos of Christiana today. Christiana, being a desirable place to live, has seen a rapid increase in population over the past 40 or so years, with many returning residents and local people settling in the area.

This road not only serves the people of Manchester, but Christiana is the nearest town to south Trelawny and one of the main routes to the north coast, and vice versa. Many people from those areas travel to school, hospital, to shop and conduct other business in Manchester.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">Other past mistakes</span>

Because of cost, we have made several mistakes in the past, ending up with substandard work, as seen on most of our road network. The Mandela Highway and Spanish Town Bypass were criticised for the high cost at that time, and that became an election-campaign issue. From the announcements made then, overpasses should have been built at the March Pen and Windsor Road intersections, but were scrapped from the original design at the change of government. I recall, too, that Prime Minister Hugh Shearer was heavily criticised for that project.

More recently, a few more million dollars would have given Portia Simpson Square an overpass rather than the already outdated roundabout which hardly improves the present traffic flow. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson also took his share of criticism for his north coast and toll highways. Chief Minister Bustamante took his licks on the storm-water drainage system for Kingston, so much so that the government of the day was dubbed the 'Gully Government'.

Another big mistake was made in the 1970s when the south coast road being reconstructed from Alligator Pond to Milk River was abandoned halfway. This road would have relieved Spur Tree of some of the large cane trucks, tankers, shipping trailers and cement trucks. It is a terrifying experience to encounter some of these units on the hill, and a good friend of my family lost her life there some time ago. That south coast road can still be put to use for large units by the widening and straightening of a few curves on the existing road without doing irreparable damage to the sensitive environment of that region.

If Jamaica is to get out of the Third-World mode, it must have leaders and planners with the vision to take it into the next 50 years and not just to look at the present.

Infrastructure must be properly built so that it lasts well into the future. It is better to do fewer projects, select them well and do them well so we wouldn't have to redo them every year, thus giving a chance to move on to the next project.

A quarter-inch of asphalt on a base of marl to construct our roads is not good enough to make us pothole-free by any year whatsoever.

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Showing 9 comments

ras london 18 hours ago
Jamaicans in general do not have a problem with the Christiana bypass. The problem is the cost and the refusal of the NWA and JDIP to have it investigated by the OCG. We have become accostomed to exorbitant cost for simple projects with no oversight of where our money is spent.

Remember how much over budget the Downtown Bus Park, the Ian Flemming Airport, and the dualization of the Bogue main road cost us. We cannot afford to go these routes again. So an investigation is warranted and quite rightly justified since we the taxpayers are the ones fitting the bill.
vhpy and 10 more liked this

Tourism Project 19 hours ago
How much you getting paid for this propaganda? Go explain that to the public servants who cannot get paid. Listen and listen good! The Christaina project is the highway to one term.
vhpy and 9 more liked this

don 13 hours ago in reply to Tourism Project
This letter is a sensible assessment of the current affair. It is also very unfair to put the civil servants needs alongside every possible engagement which will go towards the general improvement in the life of ordinary Jamaicans. Yes civil servants have needs but the 130000 of them cannot be held totally important above the needs of the remaining under 3 million people residing in the country....plus they too need quality roads to utilize as well. The JDIP funds are drawn down on a year by year basis and only can be utilized for the originally agreed purpose, hence it cannot be used to pay civil servants...this facility is a policy based loan made through a bilateral agreement between two governments. Remember the Chinese have ensured that their contractors are present here to oversee the use of this road fund. Civil servants must be fair...they are hitting out at the government when the government ministers have in fact taken a pay cut of 15% for the last 2 years plus amounting to millions of dollars in savings for the taxpayer. What have the opposition done to assist the process? The opposition MPs and senators all participated in a wholesale rejection of the 15% reduction in salary for its members while chastising the government by saying that they cannot afford to do without the money as they do not get perks like government members...remember these individuals have been in power for 18yrs...one would have imagined that their bellies would still be filled with the collective perks that they gained. They are the insensitive ones who like to parade around with halos above their heads all hoping that people will forget how greedy and evil they all are...I am not opposed to people's opinions but we must seek to be balanced and objective at all times.
1 person liked this.

Tourism Project 9 hours ago in reply to don
I know that I am not being balanced and I am making no efforts to be. But do you? How can you even begin to try to justify such a spending...unless you are the contractor? And what kind of spin will you put on it when the OCG present its findings? Go find out what percentage of the Gas Tax was promised to the JDIP, find out how much has in fact been allocated and find out where the rest is before you begin to pretend that you know how the JLP conducts government. And how can you use the PNP's failings to justify the JLP's corruptions? You cannot measure uprightness with a crooked stick. Go check yourself before you accuse anyone of being biased.
3 people liked this.

Antoye 17 hours ago
Did anyone say that the idea directed at constructing the road was a bad one? Hopefully your letter is not designed to be part of a PR campaign in defence of this excessive project?
vhpy and 6 more liked this

Jayjayja 19 hours ago
Its not whether the road is a good idea or not the question is does this represent the best value for money.

For example could the by pass have done at a different point that would achieved the same result and cost 50% less, were all the options explored ?
vhpy and 6 more liked this
BOOK OF RULES 13 hours ago

You did this article an injustice with your openning line. Why are you so sure that we have never been there?
3 people liked this.
dranks 15 hours ago

JA$800,000,000,
US$9,000,000, C$910,000,000 or 6,400,000 Euros. Put it this way, even if the
road is a good thing, which I have no doubt it is considering the condition of Christiana
on the days you described, it is tad too much and smells fishy. That is why it
ought to be investigated, not because the road is a bad idea. The road is a
little over half a mile long, and even if consist of a few bridges, culverts,
retaining walls, super drainages and rehabilitations of other roads connected
to it or crisscrossing it, it is way over budget and estimates and therefore it
is questionable. Maybe the price is right, but those doing the planning screwed
up big time and should be asked to explain the discrepancies, which is what the
OCG is asking. Will anyone be fired for this outrage of cost over runs. By the
way, as I understand it, it is just the beginning of it.
noshel and 1 more liked this

Adelroy36 16 hours ago
Well said !!!!, I know that area quite well and i still believe that to get a proper road there it is going to take more money, but the road is well and urgently needed and this was to be done since he seventies.
2 people liked this.

Blackstar* · 06-09-2011, 05:35 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

Jamaica Gleaner Online

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'"><span style="font-size: 11pt">Shaw, Henry To Tour Christiana Road Project</span></span>

TOMORROW, WHEN the Office of the Contractor General's deadline for the National Works Agency (NWA) to provide it with details on the $800-million one-kilometre Christiana Development Road expires, two Cabinet ministers will conduct a media tour of the project in Manchester.

Finance and Public Service Minister Audley Shaw, who is also the member of parliament for North East Manchester, and Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry will host the media tour of the controversial 0.625 mile of a road project.

Daryl Vaz, minister with responsibility for information, told journalists during a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday that the scope of the work would be "clearly defined on the tour".

questions will be answered

Vaz said Henry and Shaw would field questions from journalists at the end of the media tour.

"I hope that all those who have so much to say from Kingston will make the effort to go to Christiana and have a tour and a fulsome explanation in terms of a PowerPoint presentation by the contractors in relation to the scope of work," he added.

The one-kilometre Christiana development road project has triggered widespread debate on the cost of constructing roads in the country.

Chairman of Parliament's Public Administration and Appropriations Committee, Wykeham McNeill, and some of his colleagues raised alarm last week when NWA head, Patrick Wong, disclosed that the project would cost US$8.9 million or nearly J$800 million.

Since that time, a raging debate has ensued with officials from the NWA and the finance minister defending the cost of the project.

The NWA yesterday attributed inconsistencies in reported projections for the cost of the Christiana road development to the original estimate being done before the completion of detailed designs.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110609/news/news3.html

**Gen** · 06-09-2011, 05:43 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

9 million ?

Blackstar* · 06-09-2011, 05:49 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

Over US$9 million for less than a mile of road. True, Christiana is on steep terrain, but goodness. Couple weeks ago, I saw where a big chunk of road broke off just past Coleyville. Somebody had place two sticks and strung tape between to "warn" drivers but the tape break off too and was just flapping in the breeze. I can't imagine what up there is like after the torrential rains.

**evanovitch** · 06-09-2011, 05:53 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

i drove up to a ranking PNP Minister's house one night...dis was in the height of the 18yrs in office wen money was flashing leff n right a yaad...montrously big house, all the amenities, fixings, extras etc....

all i had to ask him n him look pon mi in shock n dem buss out a laff an seh to me seh dat yes, is mi fi real, cause no one else evah said r brought wat i said to his attention...n him hug mi an welcome me home n seh yes, mi n u really a fren fi true...

all i said to him was, ' y di [censored] u have dis type a house n mi driva nearly bruk him axle, him neck n fi mi neck fi drive pon di road come up yah....dat no [censored] up star?'

mek mi wonda whe di profit was in mekking dis road wen some a dem wwont fix dose leading to dem own house

Blackstar* · 06-09-2011, 06:05 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

I went up through Beverley Hills few weeks ago - same way di road dem mash up in front of the big everlasting mansion dem.Nuh mek no sense.

**mountaingal** · 06-09-2011, 06:28 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

maybe is a subtle deterrent. here in toronto some of the most exclusive neighbourhoods have the worst roads caw dem no want to make it easy for riffraff to drive thru.

**evanovitch** · 06-09-2011, 06:36 PM

Re: JA broke but govt. ALWAYS finds $ to waste

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I went up through Beverley Hills few weeks ago - same way di road dem mash up in front of the big everlasting mansion dem.Nuh mek no sense. </div></div>

well some peeps keep it because dem refuse to fix it so dat alll wi drive pon it..i ask y dem no come togedda as a naybahood an dweet togedda..chile , dat is wen u realise dat who live up deh long no approve of who juss now tru money can live deh...so mi seh but is tru money allll a oonoo a live dis large...but dat is anoodda story...if i was not soo lazy i would write a book about upstairs backstairs in Jamaican supposed society.it is hoooot...u wi find a yaad talking about low class people wid a mate beside dem who is still trying to kill the cockney in dem speech n whose idea of dress is labels on every ting...

but i digress...but even the ones who u tink get on dem still naw fix it ...one always feels di odda use it more so dem should fix it n di scrabblung goes on n on will dem mistably believe dat SUV nek fi run smoothly thru potholes...i miss ole JAMAICA...educated or not people read books ..now all dem read is novels...sigghhhh