ROUTINE MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS SIGNED

Left to right, Sharon Hay-Webster, Olivia Grange, both MP's from St. Catherine, Minister Robert Pickersgill and Mr. Franklin Khan, Minister of Works and Transport, Trinidad at the contract signing. In the background, members of the National Works Agency.

Minister Robert Pickersgill on Wednesday, March 2, 2005 signed routine maintenance contracts which will see roads being repaired in twelve parishes.

28 contracts covering the parishes of St. Andrew, St. Catherine, St. Mary, St. Elizabeth, Portland, St. Thomas, Trelawny, Clarendon, Manchester, Hanover, St. James and St. Ann were signed. Westmoreland and Kingston were not included in the lot. Main roads in Westmoreland will be addressed as part of the remaining 17 packages. A special HOTMIX programme is being planned for Kingston and will be implemented as soon as the Road Fund approves the quantities being developed by the National Works Agency (NWA).

Under the contracts signed, 2,176 km of roads will be bushed and 2,385km of drains will be cleaned at a cost of just under $100M. The scope of works of the contracts include:
· Bushing and mowing of road banks from boundary to boundary
· Cleaning of shoulders, side and parallel drains, culverts, catch basins and outlets
· Cleaning of street signs, guard rails and other road furniture.
· Clearing of minor land slips and silt from the roadway
· Removal of garbage, domestic or otherwise and
· Removal of encroachment on the ‘Right of Way’.

Addressing the Press Conference, Minister Pickersgill noted that the lengthy delay for the awarding of the contracts was that many contractors no longer qualified. This he says was so as requirements now call for proof that contractors have the requisite financing in place to execute the works. They must be able to demonstrate that they can do the work, pay their workers and submit their certificates for processing and payment. He lamented the fact that the Ministry had been to tender on four occasions seeking to award 55 maintenance packages in every constituency across the 14 parishes of the island. Of that number, 38 packages have been recommended to the Road Maintenance Fund.

From left to right, Minister of Water and Housing, Mr. Danny Buchanan, Minister Robert Pickersgill, Mr. Franklin Khan, Minister of Works and Transport, Trinidad at the contract signing.

Apart from the 28 packages signed at the Press Conference, another 10 are currently being evaluated and there are 17 others to be implemented. Of these, some have been tendered and are expected back shortly while the tender for the others are being prepared.

It is to be noted that the contracts signed do not include patching of roadways. A separate patching programme is being undertaken across the island using Spray Patcher Units to repair 102,000m2 of potholes. To date, approximately 45,000m2 of patching across Kingston, St. Mary, Manchester, Westmoreland, St. James and Hanover.

The Minister warned that the Ministry and the NWA, are extremely serious about contractors who do not execute their work professionally. This is a situation which not only have implications for payments, but also for future engagements by the Ministry and the Agency.

In terms of the long awaited programme of routine maintenance funded by the Inter America Development Bank (IADB), this is now closer to reality. This programme is known as the National Road Services Improvement Programme (NR-SIP) which will be administered over a three year period. It will be undertaken in the pilot phase in 5 parishes. These are: Portland, St. Thomas, Manchester, Westmoreland and St. Catherine.

Under the above-mentioned programme, 10 packages have already been identified and recommended for award. When implemented, every main road in the five parishes will be properly and consistently maintained (patching and bushing).

Special consideration has also been given to developing a computerized system of Routine Maintenance Management to capture the maintenance of all drains, culverts and catch basins in the five parishes. The programme is performance driven and there are penalties for breaches of the specifications of the contract.