Opposition demands transparency on SPARK Phase Two road picks as mayors press for funding clarity

Opposition spokesman on land and works Luther Cousins is pressing the government to disclose how projects were chosen under Phase Two of the $25-billion SPARK main roads programme, arguing published National Works Agency listings show spending skewed heavily toward the corporate area and St. Catherine.

Citing those listings, Cousins said about $12.01 billion — nearly half the programme’s total budget — is concentrated in the Corporate Area and St. Catherine, while many rural and agricultural parishes have seen little or no investment. St. Elizabeth, he noted, received no allocation under the programme even though it was badly hit by Hurricane Melissa. The government has cast the selection process as data-driven; Cousins said that claim obliges it to publish its methodology so Jamaicans can see why some districts won major packages while others were left out.

He also flagged limits in the programme’s reach, saying it will rehabilitate only 170 kilometres of roadway — 3.4 per cent of the roughly 5,000 kilometres under NWA supervision.

Separately, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie faces fresh calls for a clearer breakdown of road-repair money to each municipal corporation. Manchester Municipal Corporation chairman Donovan Mitchell raised the issue at a recent municipal meeting, saying the minister had left the impression that every corporation was getting $600 million. Mitchell stressed that the figure applies across all 15 municipalities, not to a single parish, and that Manchester’s financial allocation this year is about $37 million to $38 million to be shared among 15 divisions and other works. He warned councillors risk public anger if expectations stay inflated, and urged a detailed parish-by-parish accounting. Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaby has voiced similar concerns about how the repair funds were distributed.

In St. James, health officials say the parish system is still recovering from Hurricane Melissa last October. The Catherine Hall Health Centre has reopened after heavy storm damage — a milestone communities welcomed after disrupted access to care. John’s Hall Health Centre remains at an alternate site, while Roehampton was destroyed and is running from the Roehampton Apostolic Refuge Temple until a new facility can be built. Care is available at Adelphi Health Centre, with plans to restore services at John’s Hall and Goodwill shortly. Extended hours continue at the Type 5 and Mount Salem health centres, with routine service elsewhere in the parish.

Officials also report tighter disease surveillance amid global alert levels for chikungunya, influenza, dengue and measles. They say there are no confirmed cases of dengue, COVID-19 or yellow fever in the parish or country at present. An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared a public health emergency of international concern; Jamaica’s risk is assessed as very low, but surveillance is heightened given St. James’s role as an international gateway.