{"id":16757,"date":"2021-05-27T13:28:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T18:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev?p=16757"},"modified":"2021-05-27T13:28:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T18:28:02","slug":"montego-bay-perimeter-road-project-must-proceed-with-dispatch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/montego-bay-perimeter-road-project-must-proceed-with-dispatch\/","title":{"rendered":"Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project must proceed with dispatch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The long-awaited Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project now seems destined to proceed with the Government\u2019s decision to give the nod to the Chinese Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to do the work. The project was declared a national development project, which gives the Government \u2014 with the Parliament\u2019s blessing \u2014 the right to preclude certain projects from the normal procurement processes. Needless to say, the decision has spiked the ire of the Opposition \u2014 which, ironically, when it formed the Government, passed the legislation that now allows any Administration to preclude projects like these from the Public Procurement Act.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Actions do have consequences, and the Government has used its large majority in the House to proceed.<\/p>\n<p>Politicians will always blow hot air and mount horses of pride when it is expedient to do so. What is not expedient is to cast doubt on the urgent need for national development projects to proceed with dispatch or to use bureaucratic procedures to injure the timely execution of such projects.<\/p>\n<p>The town of Montego Bay, the island\u2019s tourist Mecca, is terribly congested. If anything, the perimeter road project will alleviate pile-up in the town and futuristically save lives once the treacherous Long Hill road is bypassed. Montegonians and other Jamaicans who frequently use that thoroughfare will not be too concerned about the fineries of governmental bureaucracy. They want to see the project done with expedition and transparency.<\/p>\n<p>It was nevertheless good that the prime minister encouraged debate on the matter. This is as it should be in a democracy in which we should strive for the utmost transparency in the execution of the people\u2019s business. In this light, I concur with the National Integrity Action, whose head, Dr Trevor Munroe, has called on the Integrity Commission to ensure just this transparency and that taxpayers\u2019 money is well spent.<\/p>\n<p>CHEC and none of the subcontractors working on the project should have any doubt that they are being scrutinised. I would expect the Integrity Commission\u2019s boss, Greg Christie, to give vigorous oversight to the work to be done.<\/p>\n<p>Another matter that must not be lost in all the debate and chatter is that, for the first time in living memory, the Government of Jamaica is pursuing a multi-billion-dollar project without borrowed funds. The project is being undertaken solely on the back of taxpayers. This says a lot about how far we have come. In the past we would have turned to external borrowing or some domestic mechanism to procure the funds. It can be said, without any contradiction, that the heavy debt load that bedevils us can be directly attributed to the large sums of money that have been borrowed by successive governments to fund large projects. We can hardly see any lasting benefit derived from much of this borrowing. It would appear that some projects vanished in thin air or lost a great deal of money to corruption, arrogance and inefficiency. But the country was left straddled with the weight of debt repayment nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jamaicaobserver.com\/opinion\/montego-bay-perimeter-road-project-must-proceed-with-dispatch_221856?profile=1096\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>image: pexels-life-of-pix<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The long-awaited Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project now seems destined to proceed with the Government\u2019s decision to give the nod to the Chinese Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to do the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1091,"featured_media":16758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[112],"tags":[121,190,124],"class_list":["post-16757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-newsdevelopments","tag-caribbean","tag-construction","tag-jamaica"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-life-of-pix-2489-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6u9Qa-4mh","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16479,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/tender-bypass\/","url_meta":{"origin":16757,"position":0},"title":"Tender bypass","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"May 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Procurement rule exemption for CHEC for MoBay Perimeter Road There will be no tender process for the multibillion-dollar Montego Bay Perimeter Road project that has been designated a national development project by the Government and which is to be funded by Jamaican taxpayers. For the current fiscal year, the Government\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News\/Developments&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16760,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/sellout-golding-blasts-mobay-bypass-exemption-but-holness-says-time-running-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":16757,"position":1},"title":"\u2018SELLOUT!\u2019 Golding blasts MoBay bypass exemption but Holness says time running out","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"May 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Insisting that the Government was on a bad legal footing and accusing the Holness administration of \u201cselling out\u201d the country as it sought to have China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) build the Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project, Opposition Leader Mark Golding said the order should be withdrawn. The opposition leader\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News\/Developments&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-taras-makarenko-593172-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-taras-makarenko-593172-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-taras-makarenko-593172-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-taras-makarenko-593172-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pexels-taras-makarenko-593172-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17612,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/andrew-holness-jamaican-interests-being-protected-in-montego-bay-bypass-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":16757,"position":2},"title":"Andrew Holness | Jamaican interests being protected in Montego Bay Bypass project","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"July 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"By virtue of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) framework, we had revised many of our laws to clarify, and to give institutional definition around things like incentives and so forth, and it was a sentiment shared across the floor that this needed to be done. But there will be, at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News\/Developments&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pexels-max-andrey-1197095-scaled-e1645732029934.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pexels-max-andrey-1197095-scaled-e1645732029934.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pexels-max-andrey-1197095-scaled-e1645732029934.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pexels-max-andrey-1197095-scaled-e1645732029934.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34551,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/govt-of-jamaica-procurement-awards-to-be-established\/","url_meta":{"origin":16757,"position":3},"title":"Gov\u2019t of Jamaica Procurement Awards to Be Established","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"June 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamaica The Government of Jamaica (GOJ), through the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, is looking to establish the GOJ Procurement Awards. This initiative aims to celebrate excellence and innovation in the public procurement system across various entities, according to Portfolio Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke. He was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/pexels-n-voitkevich-6120403-scaled-e1717722439707.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/pexels-n-voitkevich-6120403-scaled-e1717722439707.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/pexels-n-voitkevich-6120403-scaled-e1717722439707.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/pexels-n-voitkevich-6120403-scaled-e1717722439707.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2749,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/chang-assures-msmes-of-procurement-support\/","url_meta":{"origin":16757,"position":4},"title":"Chang assures MSMEs of procurement support","author":"Michele Marius","date":"August 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Dr Horace Chang has assured the small business sector that the Government remains committed to a new procurement process to benefit Micro, Small and Medium-size Enterprises (MSME). \u201cImportantly this Government is facilitating a new procurement process that will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News\/Developments&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News\/Developments","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/newsdevelopments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Small-business-Kaique-Rocha-pexels.jpeg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Small-business-Kaique-Rocha-pexels.jpeg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Small-business-Kaique-Rocha-pexels.jpeg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36954,"url":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/senior-bangor-university-law-lecturer-calls-for-more-sustainable-procurement-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":16757,"position":5},"title":"Senior Bangor University law lecturer calls for more sustainable procurement practices","author":"Mayra Bonilla Lopez","date":"November 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamaica ST JAMES, Jamaica \u2014 Senior law lecturer at Bangor University in Wales, Dr Ama Eyo, is calling for more sustainable procurement practices that shun corruption, bribery and collusion. According to Dr Eyo, research shows that an estimated 10 to\u00a020 per cent of the entire money spent on public procurement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3184328-scaled-e1731337056955.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3184328-scaled-e1731337056955.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3184328-scaled-e1731337056955.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/pexels-fauxels-3184328-scaled-e1731337056955.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1091"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16757"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16766,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16757\/revisions\/16766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectcalls.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}