MINISTER SIGNS ROAD MAINTENANCE FUND PATCHING CONTRACTS

From left to right; Mr. Prakash Vaswani, Chairman, Road Maintenance Fund, Minister Robert Pickersgill, Ms. Nicole Burgher, Member of the Road Maintenance Fund Board while standing in the background are Mr. Oliver Fagan, Communications Co-ordinator (left) and Mr. John Wright of the National Works Agency (NWA)

Minister Robert Pickersgill signed seven road patching contracts under the Road Maintenance Fund on Friday, February 13, 2004 at the Office of the Ministry of Transport and Works, in New Kingston.

These follow contracts which were signed last November when work under the Fund was focused on all parishes outside of the Corporate Area. On that occasion, J$170M worth of work was to be done. Under that programme of work, high quality patching work was done, bushing and cleaning of road sides and medians have been effected and the drains of most major roadways have been cleared. At the end of those contracts, it is expected that over 120,000 m squared of 'A' roads will be patched.

The National Works Agency is currently engaged in a spray patching programme which will result in 240,000m2 of additional roads being addressed at an estimated cost of J$64M. In this regard, 97m2 of road have already been patched with roads in St. Mary, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Kingston and Manchester being given priority. It is to be noted however that while much of the routine maintenance works were implemented on main roads, residents in many areas have also had their parish council roads patched as well.

Patching works are still required for over 1 million m2 of potholes islandwide. In an effort to address these needs, additional contracts will be facilitated with a view to ensuring that the work is done efficiently and quickly. Another J$50M will be allocated by the Road Maintenance Fund to ensure the timely commencement of this activity.

The seven contracts being signed are interim packages that will last for six weeks and are part of a rolling programme to improve the Corporate Area's road network.

SCOPE OF WORKS

This programme is divided into two components: road works and contract works.

The Road works component provides for the repair of road surface defects, which, in the main mean potholes. Four of the seven contracts include local rehabilitation patching, which will address badly deteriorated areas. Thses areas will be identified for repair.

The contract works also include provisional allocations for bushing, culvert cleaning, and drain catch basin works. They also include minor repairs to gratings, channels, inlets, outlets, road markings, signs and road furniture.

In order to ensure that these repair activities are properly organised, the Corporate Area has been divided into four regions - North -East, North-West, South-East and South-West. Two contractors will be assigned to each region. One of the two contractors will concentrate on pothole patching and minor routine maintenance activities, while the other will ensure that pre-selected badly deteriorated road sections are repaired.

The boundaries of the North-East region are: Constant Spring Road, from Mnaor Park to Half-way-Tree and Hope Road from Half-Way-Tree to Papine. This includes the main roads and bus routes that traverse this aea. Repairs will be done to 39 road sections totalling 52.4km. The boundaries of the North-West region are Constant Spring Road, from Manor Park to Dunrobin Avenue and Washington Boulevard from Dunrobin Avenue to Six Miles. This region comprises 40 main roads and bus routes totalling 63.56km. The South-East region is confined by Hope Road from Half Way Tree to Papine and Half-Way-Tree Road/Slipe Road/Orange Street from Half-Way-Tree to Downtown. Repairs in this region will involve 119 roads amounting to 110km.

The boundaries of the South-West region are: Washington Boulevard/Dunrobin Avenue from Six Miles to Constant Spring Road and Constant Spring Road/Half Way Tree Rd/Slipe Road/Orange Street from Dunrobin Avenue to Downtown. Sixty four roads will be repaired amounting to 76km. The work of the contractors for these regions supplemented by the NWA's patching crews will keep the main roads of the Corporate Area free from potholes and also arrest other existing undesirable conditions.

Successful bidders at the end of the competitive bidding process were:

1. Sylvester Green & Associates Company Ltd. The contract value is J$3.6M and this contractor will effect patching works under Package 2 in the North-West region
2. Chins Construction Ltd. The contract value is J$3.5M and this contractor will carry out patching under package 3 in the South-East region.
3. Mega B Construction & General Contractors Ltd. The contract value is J$3.4M and this contractor will do patching works in Package 4 in the South-West region.
4. Robert Malcolm & Associates Limited. Contract value: J$3 million. Under this contract rehabilitation patching will be carried out in the North-East region as package 1R.
5. General Paving Company Ltd. Contract value: J$3.4M. This contractor will implement rehabilitation patching in the North-West region as package 2R
6. Supreme Construction. Contract is valued at J$3.6M; rehabilitation patching will be done in the South-East region as package 3R.
7. Chicon Enterprises Ltd. Contract value J$3.6M. This contractor will carry out rehabilitation patching in the South-West region as Package 4R.

The works have a total value of J$24.3

Contractors' performance will be monitored in an intense manner. Penalties will be imposed if the works result in dust nuisance, open excavations, debris left on the road reservation and anything that undermines road safety. Any penalties imposed for breaches will attract fines and will be deducted from the amounts due.