Peter Espeut | When – oh when – O Lord?

In this column I have been critical of the inordinate delays in completing the section of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) running from Harbour View to the bridge over the Yallahs River, which is now much more than FOUR YEARS OVERDUE.

My last column on this subject was published on October 4, 2024 – six months ago; at that time I wrote that I could not determine when the project was initially projected to be completed, but that a Press Release issued on February 24, 2021 by the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce announced that “A sum of $17.4 billion has been allotted in the 2021/22 Estimates of Expenditure to continue implementation of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP)”; and that “Following several extensions, the project, which began in January 2017, is slated to end in March 2022” (see: https://www.jseza.com/17-4-billion-set-aside-for-southern-coastal-highwa...).

The government calls this a “flagship project”, by which I think they mean that they intend to make it a showpiece of what they are capable of, a demonstration of good and efficient project management. I think you will agree with me that if the government’s electoral fortunes ride on their performance on this project, they have dug a deep hole for themselves. The results of the recent local government elections show that the ruling party would lose the constituency of East Rural St Andrew through which this flagship project runs. It seems that constituents believe that SCHIP does represent what the government is capable of.

NEW REVISED DEADLINE

This project is being implemented by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, headed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness. The 2021 press release quoted above announced a new revised deadline – after several extensions – of March 2022.

Making his sectoral presentation in Parliament on May 31, 2023, then minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Clifford E. Warmington, declared that the component of SCHIP from Harbour View to Yallahs was now 93 per cent complete, and he announced a new revised deadline – the end of August 2023.

It didn’t happen! August 2023 came and went.

On July 10, 2023 construction activity resulted in broken water mains which caused a massive traffic jam for commuters passing through Seven Miles, Bull Bay. The backlash from the affected commuters, prompted the direct intervention of the prime minister; the day after the incident, E.G Hunter, chief executive officer of the National Works Agency (NWA), was instructed by the prime minister to exert direct supervision of the project to ensure its timely completion.

The project is still not finished!

On December 14, 2023 the JIS issued a press release advising that all lanes along the Harbour View to Yallahs Bridge leg of SCHIP were now open for use: “Starting today, December 14, 2023, persons traversing this section of the corridor are able to access all four lanes as was committed under the programme of works currently being carried out”.

That announcement was premature and inaccurate. At the time sections of the highway in both directions were restricted to one lane.

Of course, the local government elections were imminent, and a good show had to be staged. Despite the road construction being incomplete, on February 6, 2024 – more than one year ago – PM Holness presided over an elaborate eight person ribbon-cutting ceremony declaring that section of SCHIP officially open.

Local government elections were held on February 26, 2024 with shambolic results for the ruling party. One would have thought that the government would have rushed to pull up their socks, to complete the highway, to try to save some face. Here we are in April 2025 and not even the first mile down the road from Harbour View to Yallahs is fully complete after almost eight-and-a-half years! Drivers have to dodge holes in the roadway, endure rough unpaved sections (recently dug-up and filled in but not yet paved), and in some places, navigate between piles of soil in the roadway which restrict traffic to one lane only.

HORRENDOUS DELAYS

One expects temporary inconvenience during road construction. That roadway is well-travelled; it is estimated that 14,000 vehicles pass on that thoroughfare daily. Over the eight-plus years there have been horrendous delays and traffic pile-ups; not to mention the dust nuisance.

But there will be permanent inconvenience for some. The median dividing the road is a waist-high wall, as if the intention was to build a toll road in an isolated unpopulated area. The road passes through Bull Bay – a heavily populated area; only agile young people can easily climb over the wall to cross the road; it is impossible for the old and infirm to do so. They are voters too!

About the time of my last column on the subject, the government announced that the new completion date for the SCHIP Harbour View to Yallahs roadway would be March 2025. Of course that deadline has been missed, and I had intended last week (April 4) to point that out.

But I was pre-empted by Robert Morgan, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for Works, who made a statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday (April 1) that the US$575-million Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) is 96 per cent complete.

In his budget presentation on Thursday, March 20, PM Holness had asserted that the SCHIP was now 95 per cent complete.

• Warmy says in May 2023 that SCHIP is 93 per cent complete.

• PM Holness says in March 2025 that it is 95 per cent complete.

• The mouth says in April 2025 that it is 96 per cent complete.

Pray tell: when will it be 100 per cent complete? Maybe by the next election, whenever that might be? You think?

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and development scientist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com