Our Roads Are in a Terrible State. NIA Asks: Is Political Favoritism to Blame?

Over the past week or so, on a daily basis, citizens of mostly rural areas of Jamaica have been protesting the appalling state of our roads. We have all observed that the roads have deteriorated even further since this year’s rains set in, opening up yawning potholes, dangerous breakaways and sinking, subsiding surfaces. This is, of course, not a new problem.

Protesters in St. Thomas set fire to all kinds of debris – including garbage and tyres. (Photo: Jamaica Observer)

Professor Trevor Munroe, who heads National Integrity Action (NIA), has written an Open Letter to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). It’s my belief that the National Works Agency (NWA) has some questions to answer. I hope that the PAC will examine these specific concerns, and that we shall learn the results.

November 7, 2017

Chairman, Public Accounts Committee

Houses of Parliament, 81 Duke Street, Kingston

Dear Chairman,

As you are aware, each day people from districts across Jamaica, from St. Thomas to Clarendon to Westmoreland – all over are being forced to take to the streets to protest against deplorable and completely unacceptable road conditions, very often in areas where roads have recently been patched or rehabilitated.

Obviously, all of us have a responsibility to get to the bottom of this distressing situation, which not only reflects inadequate infrastructure but leads to disruption of social order and imposes additional hardship on communities where people are not easily able to go about their everyday business, whether children to schools or the sick to hospitals when emergencies occur.

In these circumstances, bearing in mind the responsibility of the National Works Agency for Jamaica’s road infrastructure, I feel obliged to bring to your attention the Auditor General’s Department Performance Report of the NWA (December 2015) and available online on the website of the Office of the Auditor General. May I cite briefly from this report a key finding as follows:

NWA’s Quality Management System needs improvements to provide adequate assurance that road construction and rehabilitation projects are completed based on prescribed quality standards and procedures.

In this context, the Auditor General found that the “NWA did not have a mechanism to independently obtain the material tests conducted by the labs” used by the contractors. As a result, the Auditor General continued, “this arrangement increased the risk of contractors submitting false test results, which had indeed materialized…NWA records revealed that… 36 subcontractors submitted unauthentic test results on contracts amounting to $813 million dollars.”

Clearly, Mr. Chairman, this situation reflects obvious weakness in the system of accountability, directly contributes to road deterioration which is enraging our citizenry and pours scarce public resources literally down the drain.

This is hardly a localized defect. Indeed, in her recommendations the Auditor General indicates that “the quality of the Nation’s road infrastructure could be compromised if NWA does not immediately implement changes to its Quality Management System to prevent contractors from submitting falsified test results.” Against this background, I am urging that your committee, on behalf of the public, inquire what has been done in relation to recommendations proposed for immediate implementation almost two years ago.

Mr. Chairman, in this context, it is appropriate to remind you and the Public Accounts Committee of the observation made in Ministry Paper #63 The National Security Policy for Jamaica 2013:

“Jamaica has simultaneously one of the most dense road networks in the world, and one of the worst road networks in the world in terms of the percentage of roads in good condition.”

The National Security Policy concludes that one of the main reasons for this unacceptable situation is that…

“the direction of public works contractors into the hands of political affiliates has also been particularly damaging…a contract to build a road might provide an opportunity to reward political affiliates, and shoddy construction would ensure that the road surface would crumble, which would then allow the issuing of another contract to resurface the road.”

Given the overall situation referred to in the Auditor General’s Performance Audit of the NWA and the observations of the National Security Policy for Jamaica, I am recommending that the Public Accounts Committee, as a matter of urgency, request the NWA to appear before you and to indicate what the Agency has done in implementing the findings of the Performance Audit.

All the very best to you and to your Committee.

Trevor Munroe (Professor)

Executive Director, National Integrity Action

Police clearing debris used to block the road in Knightsville, St Thomas this week. (Photo: Ricardo Makyn/Gleaner)