Holness, Golding clash over bad roads
Published:Wednesday | January 22, 2025 | 12:10 AM
Claims by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness that the current poor state of the country’s roads is mainly due to climate change, rather than the fault of the Government, was labelled as “nonsense” by Opposition Leader Mark Golding on Tuesday.
“This idea that climate change caused the bad roads in Jamaica, mash down that lie. It has nothing to do with it. We have had heavy rains in Jamaica for years. Climate change is a reality and it is coming to us, but to blame the poor state of the road network on climate change is a farce,” Golding stated.
The two leaders sparred in Gordon House after Holness spoke on the Government’s efforts to improve the nation’s road infrastructure.
The prime minister said that the Government’s $45-billion Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) programme, which started in December, will improve between 600 and 660 roads across the country.
He said that the Government was not shirking its responsibility to repair the road network, noting that he accepted criticisms about the speed of the response in rehabilitating the roads.
“I am not satisfied that we are moving as fast as we could. The public bureaucracy is hard to manoeuvre, but I assure you that we have put in place the necessary measures and the programmes are now picking up pace and they are accelerating,” Holness said.
“I fully acknowledge the frustration that many Jamaicans are experiencing due to the difficult road conditions. To those affected, I assure you that your concerns have been heard,” he added.
Holness argued that unexpected climate events damaged a significant portion of the country’s road network.
“The rainfall that we experienced last year was highly unusual and off the charts, in terms of the impact on infrastructure,” he told the House.
According to Holness, the country’s legacy infrastructure was never designed to withstand “what we are seeing today in terms of climate change”.
However, Golding accused the prime minister of pretending to accept responsibility “but in reality seeking to dodge responsibility”.
“To blame the appalling state of the road network on climate change is totally disingenuous,” the opposition leader said.
Golding also chided the Government for not including scheme roads in its programme of repairs under the SPARK programme.