PM Pushes Back Against SPARK ‘Con’ Claims

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the contracts under the government’s SPARK programme will be transparent and competitive in a bid to get value for money.

The prime minister was responding to opposition senator, Peter Bunting, who last week labelled the road improvement programme as a massive ‘con’.

Daina Davy reports.

Prime Minister Holness has pushed back against Senator Bunting’s claim that SPARK will be used by the JLP as a vehicle to channel funds for its general election campaign.

He was speaking at a spot meeting in Exchange, North East St Ann on Sunday.

He contends that the programmes implemented by the PNP were riddled with corruption.

The prime minister is moving to assure Jamaicans that there will be no predetermined sum for contractors ahead of the commencement of the road works.

The SPARK programme is scheduled to begin in mid-October. It will be awarded in four packages with work expected to be done over a two-year period at a cost of 40-billion dollars.

Package one includes Kingston, St Andrew and St Thomas.

Package two comprises St Catherine and Clarendon. Package 3 features Manchester, St Elizabeth, Westmoreland and Hanover, and package four has St James, Trelawny, St Ann, St Mary and Portland.

Meanwhile, Mr Holness is reiterating that the government’s approach to consult Jamaicans about which roads in their communities should be fixed, marks a political first.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

He was speaking at a spot meeting in Exchange, North East St Ann on Sunday.