THE EDITOR, Sir:
A HALF-PAGE advertisement published in The Gleaner of Feb. 22, 2002 (page C.14) by Petrojam Limited gushingly informs the public that the 15-kilometre Old Harbour Bypass road swallowed 20,000 tons of asphalt paving.
It can be deduced from the ad that for each kilometre of road, some 1,333.33 tons of asphalt was used. This road was built with money borrowed from overseas as well as funds from the taxpayer.
I am a lay person, with no skills in quantity surveying, but I would love to hear from the nation's quantity surveyors whether this volume of material is excessive for one kilometre of road, even with a double four (4" x 2)inch overlay. (Does it have a double four-inch overlay?)
Based on what I have seen from road construction sites , the figure seems too high for a 15-kilometre stretch. All things being equal, there seems to be a case for 570-700 tons of asphalt surfacing material per kilometre.
One thousand tons, plus, per kilometre? Incredible.
Surely I cannot be the only person in Jamaica who finds the volume of asphalt allegedly used to be on the excessive side.
Quick Mr. Stoppi, Mr. Carni or Mr. Bloomfield, tell me, are they really right? Can these volumes be legitimate?
I look forward to an informed answer from all the various entities. I would like to believe that my tax dollars have been wisely spent. I await the informed views of the various entities.
I am etc.,
CLIVE OCNACUWENGA
gingerground@hotmail.com
