PORT ANTONIO

A contract for the rehabilitation of the Bonny Gate to Preston Land road in St Mary, at a cost of $33 million, was signed at the Anglican Church last Friday (May 20).

The contract involves the rehabilitation of two kilometres of roadway, including the construction of v-drains, u-drains, installation of kerb, channel and culverts and the construction of cross drains.

The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) will contribute $30 million, while the community will perform tasks covering the remainder of the cost.

The road has been in a bad condition for many years, presenting great difficulties to the residents. The project duration is three months and the direct beneficiaries will be the estimated 2,300 residents of Preston Land/Bonny Gate and surrounding communities.

Member of parliament for Western St Mary, Robert Montague, thanked JSIF for its generosity in funding the project, and appealed to the residents to give it their full support and cooperation.

Stating that it will complement other developmental initiatives being undertaken in the constituency, he exhorted the community to ensure value for money from the work to be carried out, adding that plans are afoot to conduct well-needed road repairs in other communities soon.

JSIF general manager for technical services, Omar Sweeney, said the rehabilitation of the roadway can be likened to a gateway towards a better life for the people of the Bonny Gate/Preston Land community.

hampers progress

Observing that the current road surface hampers the progress of the community, he noted that it has jeopardised a number of developmental programmes in the area, including the Ministry of Education's School Feeding Programme and the Jamaica Library Service's reading programme through the Book Mobile."

In congratulating the residents of the areas for uniting their efforts to ensure that the necessary improvement is carried out on the roadway, the JSIF technical services general manager also encouraged them to cooperate fully with the contractor in order to enable the work to be completed on time and within budget.