General

Development Roads

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J y 1 '~' &r MINISTRY PAPER NO.~~

Mi n i stry of Communicat i ons & Works - Public Works P rogramme

1968 69

For the 1969/70 Financial Year £13,601 ,797 has been

allocated for the Recurrent and Capital Expenditure of the Ministry

of Communications and Works . This comprises approximately ll o5%

of the total budget and compares with £13 , 169 , 841 provided in last

year ' s budget .

The expansion of the work of the Ministry is reflected in

the tremendous increase in Capital Expenditure since 1962o A

comparison of the following figures will illustrate the extent of

the growth . -

Year

1962/63

1963/f:4

1964/65

1965/66 1966/ 67 1967/ 68

1968/ 69

Capital Expenditure

£1 , 635,417

2 , 773 , 449

3 , 984,553

4,212,203

4,648 , 524 4 , 667 , 099

5 , 291 ,436 These figures exclude large works undertaken for other Ministrie s.

3 . In this year ' s budget £5,780,600 has been provided for

Capital Expenditure compared with £5,291,436 last year.

ROADS

4. The growth of industries and the increase in vehicular

traffic gen erate an ever- increasing demand for more and better

transport facilities . The Ministry is geared to contribute the

utmost in meeting these needs . An allocation of £1 , 162 , 000 has be e n

made for construction and major improvements to main roads e nd as in

previous years it is intended to continue the policy of improving

on an island- wide basis the interior road network to facilitat e the

development of agricultural, industrial and tourist areas, und e r wh a t

is termed the Development Road Programme.

5 . Particulars of expenditure last year on Development Roads

were as follows .-Project

Orange Hill - Port Maria

Yankee Valley - Wild Cane

Ocho Rios - Drax Hall

Oracabessa - Ocho Rios

Oracabessa Deviation at White River

Santa Cruz via Myersville to Nain

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EST Dl.A RE •ERENCE LIBRARl

Expenditure

12 , 000

6,500

29,000

15,400

39 , 000

36,000

Flood Damage

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Montego Bay Port Devalopcent (Access Road)

Mocho - Springfield

Montego Bay - Tombstone

Caymanas Bailey Bridge -Independence City

31 ,200

5,000

27 , 000

108,000

6 . The Montego Bay Port Development Access Road project

was completed at a total cost of £68,201 inclusive of £4,877 fees

paid to the Consultants.

7· There were no disastrous floods during the 1968/69

Financial Year, but heavy localised rain over several parts of the

Island particularly in Hanover, St. Mary, St. Ann , Portland and

St. Thomas resulted in road blocks and severe scouring of road

surfaces . This necessitated an expenditure of £230 , 000 under the

Flood Damage Repairs Vote for restoration work and building of

retaining walls . Fifty Thousand Pounds(£50 , 000) was also spent

under Flood Damage Preventative Measures for building r e taining

walls, improving drainage and carrying out r emedial works for

reducing the possibility of future damage from flooding.

Major & Minor 8 . The amount of £470,000 was spent on the maintenance of Road Improve-ments. approximately 2,700 miles of main arterial and secondary main roads

Highway Reconstruction Programme

Jamaica/World Bank Project

throughout the island . For asphalting and resurfacing old and worn

out surfaces £160,000 was spent. Under Major and Minor Road

Improvements , 531 projects were undertaken at a cost of £645 , 000.

Sections of main roads were improved , Village Squares were asphalted

and Parochial Roads were taken over, improved and handed back to

the respective Parish Councils. At a cost of £81 , 000, 9 . 2 miles of

main roads werq barber - greened .

9. The Hinistry continued the programme for the reconstruction

of main arteria~ roads including' deviations to obtain desirable

alignments, widths and. gradients. In this respect £39,700 was

spent on the followin g projects : '·

Improvements and Deviation ~·t Lacol"ia -

Deviaticn at Barnett Bridge

£ 32 , 000

7,700

10. rThis year an allocation of £1,160,000 has been made for

t he Jamaica/World Bank Road Project to construct a highway from

Kingston to Spanish Town . The proposalfil, lor c.onstructing this .,

major highway u~der a loan agreement with th ~ International Bank

for Reconstruction had to be revie~ed to redude the cost. The I ', • !

services pf the Consulting Engine er·s , w'ere retained to make the.. ________ _ __ _

required modifications to the design . Subsequently , tenders for

the modified project were invited and it is expected that the

construction will commence early in this Financial Year .

/eoo e

Jamaica/ Canada Programme

Local Programme

Kingston Hnrhour Study

Ri o Cobre Flo od way

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BRIDG::.;;s

11 . With the aid of a soft loan of $700,000 from Canada

work was started in 1966/67 on a new bridge to replace the

Old Oliver Bridge in St . Thomas. Construction was completed

during the last Financial Year , and the new br i dge , renamed

the " Bustamante Bridge " was opened on the 18th July , l968 . The

total cost of the project including construct i on , engineering

and associated road work was £442 , 500 , approximately .

12o In continuation of their assistance the Government of

Canada has made available nnoth8r l oan to Jamaica of $300 , 000

( Canadian) to assist in the reconstruction of the fol l owing

five bridges at

1)

2)

3)

4)

5 )

Lacovia, St. Elizabeth

White River, St. Ann/St. Nary

Llandovery , St. Ann

Oracabcsca , St . Mary

Barnett , St. James

Approach roads to these bridges are being constructed

by the Public Works Department and financed from local funds .

Contracts have been awarded to local contracto r s for Lacovi a ,

White River , Oracabessa and Barnett bridges .

1 4 . A further Bridge ProE,ramme is being discussed with the

Canadian Government with the intention of rep l acing defective

structures at an accelerated pace.

Last year , £61, 000 was provided for the completion of

the Bowden Bridge , and construction of Lambs River , Phi llipsfield

and Sulphur River Bridges , under the Jamaica(Bridge )Programme .

The Bowden bridge has been completed and reopened to traffic .

16. The other three bridges will be completed in the

curr ent Financial Year from additional provisions .

17. The field work in a study which was being undertaken

to assess the problem of siltation in Kingston Harbour has now

been completed . The final report was presented to Government on

30t h February, 1968 .

18 . During the Kingston Harbour study , proposals were

submi tted for the entrainment of the lower reaches of the Rio

Cobre . Top priority was given to these proposal s and as a result

the Rio Cobre Fl ood Control Project was commenced in September , l96 7~

The projec t consists mainly of the construction of embankments

to train the Rio Cobre so as to protect from f l ooding , thereby

facilitating large - scale development of an extensive area of

land in lower St . Catherine . It also involves constructing a

road on the southerly embankment linking Passage Fort and Grange

Lane/ •••

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Lane with a connection with the Kingston/Spanish Town Road, via

a new 400 feet span bridGe ac ross the river . Satisfactory progress

was maintained during the year and it is anticipated that the

proj e ct will be completed on schedule , in August this year. The

expenditure on this project in the last Financial Year was £998,293

and £360 , 000 has been allocated for this Financial Year.

STUDIES

Transporta• 19. On the 15th October, 1968 an agreement was signed between tiori. Study

the Ministry of Communications and Works and a Canadian Consulting

Engineering firm , Messrs. Lamarre Valois Intornational Limited to

carry out the transportation survey .

20 . The objectives of Stage one of the Trans~ortation Survey

are as follows : -

a) To establish and analyse the true costs of transporting

goods and passengers in J amaica by rail , road, coastal

shipping and air , and in the liGht of the best available

information on traffic trends , to project the costs

forward ten years .

b) To examine the present level and condition of capital

investment in each of the above sub-sectors and the

recurrent costs of the services in each; and to project

both the necessary capital and r~current costs forward to

1973 and 1978 , in the light of an examinat ion of traffic

trends and expenditure in both public and private sectors

of the domestic transportation network; to establish on

a priority basis , in and between modes , a list of projects

for further study .

c) To recommend policies and measures which will as far as

possible, ensure that transport development in Jamaica

takes place in the most economical directions, and in

particular, to ensure the most economical use of present

and forseeable future physical and financial resources .

The es timated time for this survey is twelve months , and

at the 31st March, 1969, all the work was on schedule .

21 . The Survey which is being financed by a loan from the

Canadian International Development Agency is being carried out in

two stages. Stage one is a genvral transportation survey , and Stage

two will be a technical and economic feasibility study of high priority

transportation proj2cts . The firet stage of the Transportation Survey

was commenced in November , 1968 , and an island- wide Origin and

Des tination study , to obtain information on the movemen t of people and

goods , has been completed rccentlye

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) ' ~ . Committee on Problems of Heavy Transport

-5-22 . The Ministry of Communications and Works is vitally

concerned about the safety of the roads and bridges in Jamaica.

Much damage has been done to these assets particularly the bridges ,

the majority of which were designed and constructed many years ago.

In order to alleviate the problem, a committee was sot up to study

and report on the problem . This committee will examine th e types

and sizes of vehicles being used for heavy transportation and

haulage and submit recommendations as to whether or not they should

be r estricted to definite dimensions . It will also make recommenda­

tions concerning any controls necessary , on the gross vehicle

weights for arterial routes. The Committee is expe cted to present

its r eport early in this Financial Year.

BUILDINGS

Maintenance 23 . An amount of £569 9 000 was provided last year for the

of Govern­ment Build­ings .

Work for Other Ministries

maintenance of and minor wo rks on the 4,000 Government owned buildings

at estimated capital value of approximately £25 , 000 , 000 . This year

£602 , 000 has been provided for this purpose . Last year , £ 419,000

was spent for general maintenance and minor works of improvements

were undertaken at a cost of £25,250 . Under the Building Deferred

Maintenance Vote , the sum of £34 , 000 was spent for re-roofing of a

f e w Hospitals , Police Stations , Court Houses, the General Penitentiary

and tbe Hanson Home in Spanish Town .

24 . On behalf of other Ministries and Departments the following

major projects were undertaken last year by the Public Rorks

Depa rtment :-

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(l) Construction of Admiral Town Police Station

(2) Extension to Electoral Office

(3) Renovation Harmon Barracks

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(l) Construction of Bureau of Standards ( 2) Extension to Tovm Planning Depa rtment (3) Completed Surveys Title Office (4) Completed Dubbing Studio for J . I.S.

MINIS TRY OF LOCAL GOVERNHENT -(l) Completed Community Tank Cover , St. Elizabeth

MI NISTRY OF HEALTH

(1) Montego Bay Hospital

( 2) Commoncom0nt of Occupational Therapy Unit , Bellevue Hospital

(3) Extension and a lteration t o Chapelton Hospital

(4) Extensions to Chest Clinic , North Street , Kingston

(5) Extensions to Port Maria Hospital

( 6) Extensions to Lional Town Hospital

• J .. ..

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MINISTRY OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

(l) Modernization of Main Office Building

(2) Alterations to East Public Buildings

MINISTRY OF YOUTH & COHNUNITY DEVELOPMENT

(l ) Repairs to Mineral Baths , Bath

( 2) Construction of Hampstead Security Block , Stony Hill

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE

(1) Drainage at White House Beach

( 2) Improv0ments to Castleton Gardens

(3) Construction , Fisheries Division Office , Black River .

Altogether the following jobs were undertaken or supervised

by the Public Works Department for other Ministries

Under £5 , 000

£5 , 000 to £10 , 000

£10 , 000 to £50 , 000

Over £100 , 000

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9

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77

N. C. LE\iiS Minister of Communications and Works

21st May, 1969

Mi n i stry of Communications and Works 65/ 0/ 04