Francis threatens to withhold payments to consultants of Nelson Mandela Highway

If the potholes issue on the Nelson Mandela Highway (formerly known as the South Leeward Highway) are not sorted out soon, Minister of Transport and Works Julian Francis will ask the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to withhold payments still owed to the consultants.

The South Leeward Rehabilitation Highway Project began in 2014, and should have been completed by May 2016, but very abnormal weather slowed down the EC$26 million project.

Speaking last Thursday, July 19, during a ceremony held to rename the highway, Minister Francis said that while the project is almost complete, there is a problem with potholes on the stretch of highway between the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) and Gibson Corner, and he has asked the consultants on the project, the Barbados-based DLM Consultants, to address this issue urgently.

“There is a burning issue between Gibson Corner and hospital where we have recurring potholes, and just last week I had a very firm discussion with the consultants and suggested to them that if they couldn’t find a solution to those potholes that we will have to have CDB hold their monies until they find a solution, or we find a new consultant,” Francis told the gathering.

Francis noted that the contractors, Dipcon Engineering are awaiting instructions from the consultants on how to deal with the potholes in the area mentioned.

The Minister of Transport and Works said that the project will soon be completed and there is an extra $8 million of works to be done.

He said the project has a surplus of money and that is being used to rehabilitate roads in areas like Chauncey, Montrose, Clare Valley and Rilland Hill into Hope. Other works include the building of bus stops.