Highway network is linking the island’s main cities, promoting business and new services
he government’s top priorities for Jamaica’s infrastructure have been to meet the demands of growing volumes of cargo and to provide well-equipped facilities for the increasing number of international arrivals by sea and by air.
In 1999 the Jamaican Government endorsed the establishment of the National Works Agency (NWA), and gave it Executive Agency status in 2001. The agency was created to make project implementation by the Ministry of Transport and Works more efficient and decentralised. The agency’s main focus is for the maintenance and construction of roads, but they also play an important role in dealing with natural disasters, such as flood damage. Most of the NWA’s projects are contracted out to specialist private firms, allowing them to choose the most appropriate bidders. Jamaica’s hilly terrain means that a good network of roads is essential to ease the transport of goods and people across the island. By increasing the people’s mobility, through a better road infrastructure, the NWA aims to foster business development and economic growth, and therefore improve the quality of life.
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The Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, is enthusiastic about the improvements made in infrastructure and public works in the past five years. “There has been a transformation in terms of infrastructure. Now about 90 per cent of the population has electricity and many more Jamaicans have access to drinkable water at the turn of a tap. If you consider housing as part of the infrastructure, then there has been a construction boom.”
The North Coast Highway between Montego Bay and Negril has been completed and has made the long journey between the two locations much easier. About a quarter of the new highway from Montego Bay to Ochos Rio is built, and the route will continue to Port Antonio.
| Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay is the main gateway to Jamaica with 64 per cent of stop-over visitors passing through it |
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A ring road around Montego Bay is planned, while the main bridge across Montego Bay, Howard Cooke Bridge, is being made into a dual carriageway. All this is part of the Highway 2000, currently being built by a major French construction company. When complete it will link all the main tourist centres, including the capital, Kingston, by a modern network of highways.
“Highway
2000 will be our first four-way toll highway and the project is going
very well,” says Mr Pickersgill. It has begun to generate new commerce
and competition to provide new trade and services along the route is
growing.
“I think investment in infrastructure has helped to give us our
historic fourth term in government. Roads, houses, electricity, telephones,
and so on, have a daily impact on people, and they feel the improvements
in their quality of life.”
The government is quickening the pace of rural development through the Rural Electrification Programme (REP), the agency in charge of networking electricity services to rural communities. Under the scheme, residents can acquire an electricity connection as a result of a tax-free loan from the government. The residents are then required to make a minimum payment over a 4 year period to honour the tax-free loan. General Manager of REP, Keith Garvey, says that the electricity connection will improve rural life and accelerate agricultural development. REP is working towards providing electricity to every home on the island in the next three to four years.
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Earl Richards, President of the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), is also enthusiastic about progress at the island’s main points of entry for holidaymakers and businessmen. “What is clear is that tourism presents a great potential for growth,” he says. “The country is seriously investing in this area because we have the assets and the airports, which are the major gateways.”
The Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay is the main gateway, with 64 per cent of stop-over visitors passing through it. “Among the developments that have taken place in the last five years, is the establishment of the operations hub of Air Jamaica at Sangster,” says Mr Richards. “If we had not made the necessary investment in infrastructure, we would not have had the capacity to handle the increased activity.
| A before and after photo of the North Coast Highway between Montego Bay and Negril shows what great improvements have been made to the road network in only five years |
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“We also want to develop the cargo handling capacity at our airports and the facilities for becoming a transport hub. We see Europe as a good destination for cargo operations and Air Jamaica’s capacity into the UK, linked with Europe, has already begun to show positive results.”
The Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, is used more by locals and business travellers, as well as tourists. Last year more than 1.5 million passengers passed through Norman Manley. Overall passenger numbers to both airports are expected to rise well above five million within a year or two.
Jamaica also has four domestic airports: Tinson Pen at Kingston, Negril, Ken Jones serving Port Antonio and at Boscobel, serving Ochos Rios.
In recent years the AAJ has played an important role not only in the tourism industry, but also in the air transportation of goods, as imports and exports to and from the island. Mr Richards views the activities of the AAJ as a key to business development. “I definitely support the view that investment in infrastructure will enhance the social and economic development of the Jamaican population,” says Mr Richards.
In line with other infrastructure developments, Jamaica’s communications networks have been keeping pace with the rise in demand for fixed-line and cellular telephony. For years Cable and Wireless dominated the market but they now face strong competition from new firms like Digicel, which has registered impressive growth. Over the last two-and-a-half years, foreign firms have invested over £187 million in the telecommunications sector giving Jamaica one of the region’s most advanced IT networks. The government plans to drive the sector, to the forefront of the economy and it sees Jamaica becoming a ‘digital island’ of the Caribbean.
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