Holness presses for stronger contractors as Alpart upgrade, Portmore probation office and NHT relief advance

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness says Jamaica needs a stronger class of contractors able to deliver the large infrastructure works the government is pursuing, speaking at the opening of Kenwood Road in Portland under the Spark programme.

"We need good, strong, solid contractors. We need to totally dispense with the view that the contractor is a man with a little bag and he might have maybe a truck and a little backhoe there and they can take on massive complex work like the Spark program. We need to change that. We need our contractors to move up to a level of enterprise and corporate thinking that they are investing in their business, they're getting the technical skills and they are building the balance sheet," Dr. Holness said. He framed the gap as one of finance, economics and technical capacity, not politics, and said the state must partner with local firms to help them grow.

Separately, Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister Floyd Green told the House of Representatives on Tuesday that Chinese iron and steel firm JISCO will modernise the Alpart refinery at Nain, St. Elizabeth, in two phases after talks during his recent visit to China. The works aim to restore alumina output to about two million tons a year, one million tons per phase. Phase one is budgeted at US$490 million and will include a five-megawatt solar photovoltaic and energy-storage hybrid system, plant upgrades, dry stacking for residue, and rail and port rehabilitation. JISCO is working to start construction before year-end, with an official launch targeted before June 2027 and phase one due in about 20 months. Green said talks also covered land titles for relocated residents — about 1,233 needed, with 350 done and 56 more expected in 2026 — and roughly 149 million tons of bauxite reserves tied to lands being pursued.

State Minister of National Security and Peace Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn said a new Department of Correctional Services probation office at Big Buy Plaza on West Trade Way in Portmore, opened Wednesday, strengthens community safety and rehabilitation. The facility offers private counselling and case-management space and houses the department's first dedicated play-therapy room with a certified therapist for children affected by trauma, family conflict or justice-system contact. It leads retrofitting of DCS sites in Region 1, which serves 1,280 non-custodial clients.

The National Housing Trust has paid out more than $2 billion in post-Hurricane Melissa support, Assistant General Manager for Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Dwayne Berbick told a JIS Think Tank. Some 5,100 recovery-grant applications worth about $2.2 billion were processed from 8,300 bids for grants of up to $500,000, mostly from Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth and St. James. Of $3.5-million relief loans, 213 applications totaling $700 million were approved, with 115 still under review. The facility, at two per cent flat for NHT contributors generally, now also covers resilience upgrades on homes not damaged by Melissa. The second Home It Expo runs Saturday, July 11, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Emancipation Park, offering free building plans, workshops and mortgage checks.

Green also said nearly $500 million is being sought from the Ministry of Finance to revitalise Holland Bamboo in St. Elizabeth as a pedestrian eco-tourism site, including nurseries, new bamboo, irrigation and an alternate access road, disclosed at the Castleton Botanical Gardens reopening in St. Mary.