MONTEGO BAY, St James — The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been blamed for pushing back, by a year, the start of construction on the highly anticipated US$22-million Montego Bay bypass road.
According to managing director of the National Road Operating and Constructing Company Limited (NROCC), Ivan Anderson, the work, which was initially slated to get under way next year, is now expected to start in 2022.
“We had proposed to start next year, if everything had gone well...without COVID-19...The duration of the project is 36 months and we are expected to start in about 2022, subject to the approval of NEPA [National Environment and Planning Agency],” Anderson said.
Anderson hinted that with the Jamaican Government financing the project, local contractors might be given the nod instead of China Harbour Engineering Company.
Speaking during a ceremony for the renaming of Quebec Avenue as Dr Horace Chang Boulevard recently, Member of Parliament for St James North Western Dr Horace Chang gave the assurance that funding to commence the construction of the much-anticipated Montego Bay bypass road, estimated to cost roughly $40 billion, had been set aside in the budget for the 2020-2021 financial year.
