Government Reports Progress on SPARK Roads, Bridge Works and Land Titling Reforms

Jamaica cannot realistically position itself as a logistics hub, tourism powerhouse, manufacturing centre or digital economy without dependable infrastructure, a government minister told Parliament. Strong infrastructure is not decoration, the minister said — it is development.

The Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development is pressing ahead across roads, bridges, drainage and land administration. Under the $45 billion Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) programme, works stood at roughly 26 per cent completion as of April 2026. Nine work orders valued at J$18.39 billion cover 369 roads across four major packages. Construction has started on 210 routes, with 109 already completed. Officials describe SPARK as among the most ambitious road rehabilitation efforts undertaken by any government since Independence.

Capital works continue alongside SPARK. Dualisation of Grange Lane in Portmore is complete, while widening of the Braeton to Hellshire main road is about 40 per cent finished. Arthur Wint Drive and Camp Road are also being widened, with potable water and sewage infrastructure included in both projects. With Portmore set to become a parish, the minister said its road network must be strengthened to support growth, commercial activity, public transportation and future development.

Bridge design must account for stronger floods, heavier flows and changing rainfall patterns. Hurricane Melissa showed that weak links in the road network can quickly isolate communities. Following the opening of the Troy and Spring Village bridges, an accelerated bridge programme is substantially advanced. It will rehabilitate 55 bridges islandwide, include seven emergency bridges and place 20 structures in areas devastated by Hurricane Melissa. Each project requires design work, environmental and social due diligence, with geotechnical assessments and other reviews conducted through the FEMS process.

Drainage works are also planned. A proposal for Catherine Hall in St. James follows damage during Hurricane Melissa and is being developed within the wider Montego River flood-control plan. The system is intended to preserve the existing levee network with controlled discharge points and backflow prevention measures, building on a drainage study for greater Montego Bay linked to the Montego Bay perimeter road project.

On land administration, the government is tightening measures to curb illegal squatting, reduce adverse possession, regularise registration and monitor idle lands. From 9 June 2026, persons who occupy Crown lands will not be considered for settlement programmes, and those who sell Crown lands will face prosecution. Officials warned that members of Parliament do not authorise squatting: "So, to those persons scamming people and says the MP send them, stop it because the MP never send you go do nothing like that."

A revolving survey-loan fund will help landowners of two acres or less apply through LAMP, an NLA-trained and certified lawyer or a recognised land management service company, with payments going directly to surveyors and a caveat lodged against the title. Processes are also being digitised, including surveys, to support e-title distribution by next September at a target of more than 30,000 e-titles per year. An e-title property-watch service, offered for a fee, will alert owners if someone applies to title their land.