Prime Minister Andrew Holness has given instructions for contractors working on behalf of China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to repair a section of the Yallahs, St Thomas leg of the newly constructed South Coast Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP).
The works should begin this weekend.
The development was revealed by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for works, Robert Morgan, during a tour of the damaged road on Friday.
Residents in the parish have been raising concerns about the damages and breakaways on that segment of the highway.
Morgan said low-quality material that was used when the road was being built is the likely cause of the damage, which occurred in about 25 per cent or 1.6 kilometre of the four-kilometre stretch of road between Salt Pond and Pamphret in the parish.
According to him, the “damage is now being manifested because of the weight of vehicles, and also exacerbated by Hurricane Beryl.”
The minister said taxpayers will face no additional costs to have the repairs completed, as, under SCHIP, “you have a two-year defects liability period which means after the road is handed over, the (main) contractor, which is China Harbour (Engineering Company), is obligated for whatever damage or whatever failure takes place on the road for a two-year period, to repair that.”
