Mayer Matalon, Gleaner Writer 
RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER - Robert Pickersgill (left), minister of transport and works ,speaks at the contract signing for the Road Maintenance Fund Routine Maintenance Programme. Franklyn Khan
(centre) Trinidad and Tobago minister of transport and works, and Dr. Fenton Ferguson, minister of state in the Ministry of Transport and Works, accompany Mr. Pickersgill at the ministry's office in Kingston on Wednesday.
ROBERT PICKERSGILL, minister of transport and works, on Wednesday signed a multimillion-dollar contract with the National Works Agency (NWA) for the commencement of the Routine Mainte-nance Programme, which is to be financed by the Road Maintenance Fund.
According to Mr. Pickersgill, "It will not be business as usual." He said contractors will be required to pass an evaluation of their capabilities in order to be allowed to go to tender. They must also prove that they are able to finance the work independently as the government will not be paying contractors until the work is complete, and then only if the auditors are satisfied with the quality of the workmanship, the works minister stressed.
PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
The ministry has put together 38 of 55 planned maintenance packages for tender. Those 38 will be implemented in constituencies in every parish except Kingston and Westmoreland. Once the remaining 17 contractors are selected, they will be operating in constituencies in Westmoreland, Mr. Pickersgill outlined. A separate initiative, he said, is being put together for Kingston, the details of which will be announced at a later date.
Under this contract, the ministry and NWA intend to bush approximately 2,176km of roads and clean approximately 2,385km of drains at a cost of just under $100 million. The Routine Maintenance Programme contract does not include the patching of roadways. A separate patching programme is being undertaken, with the objective of repairing a total of 102,000 square metres of potholes across the island, the works minister explains.
In addition, a similar routine maintenance programme funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is being planned and will be administered over a three-year period; the pilot phase of which will take place in the parishes of Portland, St. Thomas, Manchester, Westmoreland and St. Catherine. Once the programme is implemented, routine patching, bushing and other maintenance will occur on all the main roads of these parishes, according to Mr. Pickersgill.
Also present for the signing were the Minister of State for Transport and Works, Dr. Fenton Ferguson; Communication and Customer Services Manager for the NWA, Mr. Vando Palmer; and Minister of Transport and Works for Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Franklin Kahn. Several contractors who will be involved in the programme and some MPs for constituencies which will be affected by the programme were also present.
