Highway 2000

The Highway 2000 project is a public-private partnership, which will see the construction of a 230km highway running from Kingston to Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios. This is to be Jamaica’s first Toll Road.

THE PARTNERSHIP

The partnership is structured to maximize operational efficiency and minimize cost. A public-private partnership is an effective means of increasing public infrastructure capacity by mobilizing financial and other resources from the private sector.

The organizations making up this partnership are: -

National Road Operating and Constructing Company Limited (NROCC)

NROCC is a state owned company, which (pursuant to the Toll Roads Act) was authorized by the Minister of Transport and Works, the Hon. Robert Pickersgill, to delegate to the project company the obligations to design, finance, construct, maintain and operate Highway 2000 and levy, collect and retain tolls with respect to toll road usage. NROCC will be converted to a private company in order to permit the holders of the bonds, issued by NROCC on December 10, 2001 and due to mature on February 6, 2032, to exercise their option to convert the bonds into ordinary shares in NROCC upon that maturity date. These bonds represent the loan to the project.

TransJamaican Highway Limited (TJH)

TJH is the project company owned by Bouygues Travaux Publics (66%) and Autoroute du Sud de France (ASF) (34%), which was awarded the contract by NROCC to design, finance, construct, maintain, operate and improve Phase 1 of Highway 2000 and to levy, collect and retain tolls in respect thereto, under the terms and conditions set forth in the Concession Agreement. TJH was selected after a fully transparent tender process (details of which are posted on website http://www.h2kjamaica.com)

Bouygues Travaux Publics Jamaican Branch

Bouygues Travaux Publics and TJH entered into a Design & Construction Contract for Phase 1a of Highway 2000 on February 23, 2002. The contract is on a lump sum, turnkey and fixed term basis.

Jamaican Infrastructure Operator (JIO)

JIO is a private company owned by ASF (51%) and Bouygues TP (49%), which is responsible for road safety and routine maintenance on Highway 2000 as well as the operation and collection of toll plazas. As the operator of the road, JIO will ensure the safety of the road user by managing the route using An Incident Management System, which analyses trouble spots in order to effect improvement; by providing regular patrols, accident response teams and operating S.O.S phones every 2 Km; and by monitoring road conditions to ensure adequate quality and capacity. In addition, the Jamaica Constabulary Force will provide a dedicated highway patrol.

The secondary objective of JIO is to collect toll monies on behalf of THJ and to minimize.

THE PROJECT

Highway 2000 is intended to be a four to six lane controlled-access, tolled motorway with interchanges and intersections built to modern international standards.

The project is divided into two phases with the second phase being further divided into two.

Phase 1A

· Old Harbour bypass dualization (13 km) and Vineyards Toll Plaza, target completion date is September 2003.

· Kingston to Bushy Park (21km) and Spanish Town Ramp Plaza - Dec. 15, 2004.

· Portmore Causeway and Hunt’s Bay Bridge Toll Plaza - June, 2006

Phase 1B

· Sandy Bay (Clarendon) to Williams Field (Manchester) - Dec. 31, 2008

Phase 2

· Bushy Park to Ocho Rios and Williams Field to Montego Bay

Under the terms of the Concession Agreement, TransJamaican Highway Limited (TLH) has an incentive to undertake Phase 1B pf the project and right of first refusal to undertake Phase 2.

Total Cost of the project is set at US$390 million (J$18 billion)

Funding

Phase 1A is funded at risk equity and debt through the private sector, namely TJH, JIO and their shareholders. They will recoup their investment strictly through toll payments.

The land was purchased by NROCC on behalf of the Government of Jamaica. NROCC also provided partial funding via a loan to the project. This loan will be repaid through the proceeds of the project.

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On Friday, August 22, 2003 Minister Pickersgill announced the appointment of a ten member Toll Authority. The establishment of a Toll Authority is provided for the Toll Roads Act 2002 and its main functions are to regulate the operations and maintenance of toll roads, monitor the compliance of the concessionaires, and advises the Minister on matters of general policy related to design, construction, safety, regulation, operation and maintenance of toll roads in Jamaica. The chairman of the Toll Authority is Mr. Patrick McIntosh, former CEO of WINDALCO.

Mr. Dunbar McFarlane, former Banker has been appointed as the Toll Regulator. Under the Toll Roads Act 2002, the Toll Regulator is the person with authority to grant concessionaires or operators of toll roads the permission to levy tolls.