MTW/NWA SIGN ROAD PATCHING CONTRACTS

 

Minister Robert Pickersgill and CEO of the National Works Agency (NWA), Mr. Ivan Anderson signed road patching contracts amounting to $33M at a signing ceremony at the Corporate Office of the Ministry of Transport and Works on Friday, November 26, 2004.

Ten packages for the patching of ‘A’ roads in all but four parishes will be dealt with. Those parishes not being dealt with under this programme are Trelawny, Hanover, St. Ann and St. Elizabeth; they will be accommodated at a later date. Under the current contract packages, 652.7 km of road covering approximately 27, 554 square metres will be targeted. This covers some 72 road sections.

Road sections to be addressed include:

Minister Pickersgill used the opportunity to highlight the fact that the work being given out should not be seen as ‘Christmas Work’. He said, ‘ Over the last two years I have taken a deliberate policy decision to remove the notion of Christmas work, Whatever work is being done leading up to the festive season, the government must get value for money.’ Continuing he said, ‘ An attitude of a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay is the standard and is an integral part of our operations at this Ministry.

The Minister also outlined the new policy of qualifying contractors to carry out work on its behalf. He noted that there appeared to have been some ‘fall-out’ because of the screening of some contractors who were deemed to be un-professional. He said that the process is now more rigorous and demanding. This has resulted in ‘so-called contractors’ now having to review their operations in order to be able to qualify to work on the Ministry’s/Agency’s behalf. Because of that, re-tendering of several packages will have to be done shortly. These include, 3 packages in St. Elizabeth, 4 in Manchester, 3 in St. Ann, 3 in Clarendon, 2 in St. Catherine, 3 in St. James, 4 in Westmoreland, 2 in St. Andrew and one each in Hanover, Portland and St. Mary.

A decision has also been taken that grades 1 and 2 contractors whose record of performance is commendable will now be able to get a maximum of 3 packages. Grades 3 and 4 contractors will not be given more than one package. Against that background, only 28 of 55 packages across the island have been recommended. It therefore means that not all the main roads will be cleaned up for the festive season.