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Critical Condition
Published: Tuesday | September 14, 20104 Comments and 0 Reactions
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
MORE than half the bridges Jamaica pur-chased from British firm Mabey and Johnson almost a decade ago are still in storage.
Patrick Wong, chief executive officer of the National Works Agency (NWA), told The Gleaner yesterday that the bridges have not been installed because the Government was unable to find the money to put them to use.
Jamaica paid Mabey and Johnson £22.8 million to design, fabricate and construct 40 bridges in 2003 under a bridge-rehabilitation programme.
"Quite a few of the nation's bridges are in critical condition. Since 2005, we have had 28 bridges in stock under the Mabey and Johnson programme," Wong said during a visit to The Gleaner's North Street, central Kingston, offices yesterday.
According to the NWA's bridge management report, 44 per cent of the country's bridges were built before 1950. The agency says 135 of the 736 bridges currently inventoried on the NWA main-road network are defective.
"The term defective is one used to define a state of condition where a critical component of the bridge has reached the end of its serviceable life," the NWA stated in the report.
"It indicates a need to have the component condition addressed in a timely if not urgent manner."
The report indicates that St Thomas, Portland and St Mary have the largest number of defective bridges. The NWA says these bridges will now be addressed under the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP).
Roger Smith, technical service director at the NWA, told The Gleaner that "regardless of the number of persons that pass, if a bridge collapses, then it is a major dislocation for any area".
Among the bridges to be replaced are Wain Spring, Lime Bush and Jacob bridges in Portland, as well as Shooting River, Ward River, Leith Hall and Harbour Head bridges in St Thomas.
Eight bridges are to be replaced in St Mary, among them May River, Enfield, Maggart, Fontabelle and Eden River.
The NWA is also preparing to install a new bridge at Cassia Park and Queensborough in St Andrew to reduce the possibility of motorists attempting to cross flooded fords and being washed away.
In the meantime, Wong has defended the NWA's decision to have a parish-by-parish launch of the JDIP.
"We have a very exciting programme. For the first time in two decades, we are able to address the people's issues and we are taking it to the people. Whomever does not like that, there will be no apology," he said.
Jamaica has borrowed US$400 million from the Chinese government to implement the JDIP. The money is to be repaid over 20 years from the $8.75-per-litre tax on fuel that was imposed by the Government two years ago.
daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com
Published: Tuesday | September 14, 20104 Comments and 0 Reactions
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
MORE than half the bridges Jamaica pur-chased from British firm Mabey and Johnson almost a decade ago are still in storage.
Patrick Wong, chief executive officer of the National Works Agency (NWA), told The Gleaner yesterday that the bridges have not been installed because the Government was unable to find the money to put them to use.
Jamaica paid Mabey and Johnson £22.8 million to design, fabricate and construct 40 bridges in 2003 under a bridge-rehabilitation programme.
"Quite a few of the nation's bridges are in critical condition. Since 2005, we have had 28 bridges in stock under the Mabey and Johnson programme," Wong said during a visit to The Gleaner's North Street, central Kingston, offices yesterday.
According to the NWA's bridge management report, 44 per cent of the country's bridges were built before 1950. The agency says 135 of the 736 bridges currently inventoried on the NWA main-road network are defective.
"The term defective is one used to define a state of condition where a critical component of the bridge has reached the end of its serviceable life," the NWA stated in the report.
"It indicates a need to have the component condition addressed in a timely if not urgent manner."
The report indicates that St Thomas, Portland and St Mary have the largest number of defective bridges. The NWA says these bridges will now be addressed under the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP).
Roger Smith, technical service director at the NWA, told The Gleaner that "regardless of the number of persons that pass, if a bridge collapses, then it is a major dislocation for any area".
Among the bridges to be replaced are Wain Spring, Lime Bush and Jacob bridges in Portland, as well as Shooting River, Ward River, Leith Hall and Harbour Head bridges in St Thomas.
Eight bridges are to be replaced in St Mary, among them May River, Enfield, Maggart, Fontabelle and Eden River.
The NWA is also preparing to install a new bridge at Cassia Park and Queensborough in St Andrew to reduce the possibility of motorists attempting to cross flooded fords and being washed away.
In the meantime, Wong has defended the NWA's decision to have a parish-by-parish launch of the JDIP.
"We have a very exciting programme. For the first time in two decades, we are able to address the people's issues and we are taking it to the people. Whomever does not like that, there will be no apology," he said.
Jamaica has borrowed US$400 million from the Chinese government to implement the JDIP. The money is to be repaid over 20 years from the $8.75-per-litre tax on fuel that was imposed by the Government two years ago.
daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com
