Morgan says criticism of SPARK ‘self-serving and inconsistent’

KINGSTON, Jamaica—Minister with responsibility for Works Robert Nesta Morgan says criticism of the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement (SPARK) road rehabilitation programme appears ‘self-serving and inconsistent’.

Minister Morgan was responding to public comments by Westmoreland Eastern Member of Parliament Dr Dayton Campbell, regarding the condition of the Cave to Kentucky road and wider concerns about SPARK implementation in the constituency.

READ: PNP’s Campbell calls on Morgan to repair Cave to Kentucky road

The minister said residents who are frustrated about road conditions have a legitimate right to raise their concerns and should never be dismissed. However, he said opposition members must also be honest about their own correspondence and representations to the ministry.

“I make no criticism of residents who are frustrated. They are entitled to be heard, and they are entitled to safe and reliable roads,” Morgan said.

“But it is important to place the opposition’s criticism in context. In correspondence sent to me by Dr Campbell regarding SPARK priorities in Eastern Westmoreland, Cave to Kentucky was not listed among the roads he asked to be treated as priority. The roads he identified were Lennox Bigwoods, Fustic Grove, Orange Hill, Ashton to Leamington, Argyle Mountain, and Gordon to Congress,” he said.

Morgan said the record shows that Dr Campbell’s stated priority list did not include the very road now being used as the basis for public criticism.

“It is therefore misleading to suggest that the ministry ignored a priority that was formally raised by the member of parliament when, in fact, that road was not among those he identified to me as his priority roads,” the minister said.

Morgan further noted that, in his first meeting with opposition members regarding SPARK, many of the requests made were to change roads that had already been selected through public consultations.

“At that first meeting, the majority of requests from opposition members were not simply about speeding up implementation or improving transparency. Many were requests to change roads selected through public consultations and substitute them with other roads,” the minister said.

He said the Government has deliberately maintained a disciplined approach to SPARK to protect the integrity of the consultation process.

“We cannot invite communities into a consultation process, ask them to identify priority roads, and then quietly discard those choices because a politician prefers another list. That would undermine the legitimacy of the programme and disrespect the citizens whose voices informed the selections,” Morgan stated.

The minister said SPARK is a national road rehabilitation programme that includes both Government and Opposition constituencies. He stressed that the programme is guided by consultation, technical assessment, procurement readiness, available funding, and implementation sequencing.

“SPARK is not a partisan road programme. It is not designed to reward one side or punish another. Opposition constituencies are included. Government constituencies are included. Communities across Jamaica are included,” he said.

Morgan also gave an assurance that roads not addressed under the first phase of SPARK will be considered and advanced under SPARK 2, as the Government continues its broader programme of national road rehabilitation.

“The public must understand that SPARK is not a one-off intervention. SPARK 1 cannot fix every road in Jamaica at once. Roads that are not addressed under SPARK 1 will be programmed for attention under SPARK 2, subject to technical assessment, prioritisation, and available resources,” Morgan said.

He added that this is why responsible programme management is important.

“We are building a pipeline, not engaging in political guesswork. The objective is to ensure that roads are treated in a structured, transparent, and technically sound manner across phases of the programme,” the minister said.

Morgan said the ministry and the National Works Agency will continue to assess the Cave to Kentucky corridor and other affected roads in Westmoreland Eastern and determine the appropriate intervention, whether through SPARK, emergency works, patching, drainage improvement, or broader rehabilitation.

“The people of Cave, Kentucky, and surrounding communities deserve a serious response, not political theatre. The Government will continue to engage, assess, and act within available resources and proper programme management,” Morgan said.

He added that the Opposition cannot seek to alter the roads chosen by communities and later accuse the programme of unfairness when those requested changes are not automatically accepted.

“That is not accountability. That is political self-interest dressed up as public concern,” the
minister said.