Holness warns Jamaica facing costly infrastructure renewal crisis

Jamaica is battling ageing infrastructure – a side effect of being among the earliest Caribbean nations to begin large-scale development – compounded by decades of maintenance neglect, according to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness.

Speaking at Sabina Park, whose restoration was identified as one of this year’s two flagship National Labour Day projects, Holness said the Government will, in the coming years, have to embark on a massive infrastructural renewal drive targeting public infrastructure, including waterways, sewage systems, and other amenities.

In addition to Sabina Park, the Government also undertook several initiatives in parishes hardest hit by Hurricane Melissa, including extensive rehabilitation and restoration work at the site of the second national project – the Lewis Town Early Childhood Institution in Braes River, St Elizabeth.

Health clinics, basic schools, and community centres were also upgraded as part of more than 300 community-based projects carried out across the island yesterday.

“Infrastructure, by its nature, must last. It’s designed to cross lifetimes, but it doesn’t always do so if it isn’t maintained,” Holness said. “But even the most robustly built infrastructure has a useful life to it, meaning you can have ageing infrastructure.”

Citing Sabina Park, which was built in the late 1800s, Holness said several of the island’s public infrastructure systems, including roadways, sewage, and potable water networks, have outlived their intended lifespan.

“What has happened is that Jamaica, being one of the Caribbean islands which started its infrastructural development before most others, … when you look at our infrastructure relative to other Caribbean islands, our infrastructure has aged,” said Holness, who drew comparisons between downtown Kingston and New Kingston, and areas such as Trincity in Trinidad and developed sections of The Bahamas, Antigua, and Guyana.

While development boomed during the 1950s through to the 1970s, the economic circumstances of the 1970s did not allow for sustained investment in maintenance, he said.

“All of these roads that you are driving on were built 100 years ago. They would have crossed several lifetimes. But for them to be of service to you, they have to be maintained, and they weren’t,” he said. “The infrastructure is aged. It’s old. It wasn’t built to carry the level of traffic, water runoff, and changes in our climate that destroy the asphalt.

“So we are going to have to renew, as a people. As we move towards 2030, to become a developed country, the Government will now have to move towards a massive project of renewing our infrastructure. That is going to be super expensive, but it is important if we are going to become truly a developed country,” he added.

Among the projects identified are the revetment of the Kingston waterfront, construction of new roadways, and the replacement of century-old sewer lines, “some of which are just a brickway under the road”.

Yesterday, scores of Jamaica Defence Force personnel and workers from various state entities converged on Sabina Park, cleaning, painting, and restoring dilapidated sections of the facility. For Opposition Leader Mark Golding, it was attention befitting of the historic venue.

“As a youngster, I have many happy memories of Sabina Park. There was a time when this particular structure didn’t exist. It was a wooden stand … . We are way past that, of course. But it’s a legendary facility around the world, and we have to keep it at a standard befitting its tremendous legacy,” he said, noting that he and his St Andrew Southern team had endured a tiring day of work.

Antoinette Bernard, an employee of KPMG Limited and president of the Nova Power Speakers Toastmasters Club in Kingston, said that although tiring, the day’s activities filled her with national pride. 

“I have been painting the perimeter wall on the north side. The soldiers have been there helping us. It has been so good to see that people still have national pride and that they are coming out and giving back on a holiday,” she told The Gleaner with a smile. “I am tired now, so I am going to grab lunch and end this spectacular day shortly.”

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com