The Government of Jamaica has awarded a road rehabilitation contract to Asphaltic Concrete Enterprise to improve the roadway between Ferris Cross and Belmont in Westmoreland.
The project also includes the rehabilitation of the roadway linking Montego Bay, St. James, with Whitehouse.
The JM$497m ($5m) project will rehabilitate over 22km of roadway, including repairs to existing drainage networks and the construction of new ones.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said that the project would improve social and economic opportunities on the south coast.
"This major road rehabilitation project will significantly improve the movement of goods and people, as well as increase road safety and reduce travel time," Miller added.
"Importantly, too, the upgrading of the corridor from Montego Bay to White House and Scott's Cove is of strategic economic importance. It will provide for maximising tourism and other development opportunities on the south coast."
The Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, through the National Works Agency (NWA), is executing the project.
The Jamaican Transport, Works and Housing Minister, Dr. Omar Davies: "This project is of significance, not just for the area through which it runs, but it will be of significance to opening up the area to facilitate the continued development of the area for tourism and for any other economic activity, inclusive of infrastructure to stimulate growth."
The Prime Minister, who is the Chairman of the National Road Safety Council, has also asked the road authorities to give importance to pedestrians and disabled persons who use the roadways.
The project is financed under the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Transportation Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme.
Image: Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (right), converses with Transport, Works and Housing Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, during contract signing ceremony for the rehabilitation of the Ferris Cross to Belmont road in Westmoreland, at the HEART Trust/NTA Culloden Vocational Training Centre in Whitehouse in the parish. Photo: courtesy of Jamaica Information services, Government of Jamaica.
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