Gov't owes asphalt company $$; Reason for bad roads- Hon Vanterpool
During the Question and Answer Segment of the Third Sitting of the Third Session of the Third House of Assembly on March 22, 2018, Honourable Mark H. Vanterpool (R4), Minister for Communication and Works, admitted that there is no asphalt available to address the road issues because the government owes the asphalt vendor money.
Honourable Julian Fraser, Third District Representative, posing the question said, “Could the Minister for Communication and Works tell the Honourable House whether a failure on the government’s part to compensate the vendor for asphalt used on government roads is the reason there is no asphalt being laid on the main road from West End to East End?”
In response, Hon Vanterpool stated that asphalt has not been supplied to the government for at least two weeks because they are settling some outstanding amount to be paid to the vendor.
“The government owes to the present vendor $622, 440 as the outstanding amount and the last payment made was on March 16, 2018, for $85, 600. There is a payment being processed now for $180,720 to be paid on March 23, 2018, and another payment that is being processed, $90, 720,” explained Hon Vanterpool.
In addition, Hon Vanterpool mentioned that in early January or February, the only asphalt plant on island was not operating after hurricane Irma and Maria but has recently been repaired and provided asphalt to the government for a certain time; however, there was an issue where oil was not available on the island to operate the plant.
“Minister for communication & works is helpless”- Hon Fraser
Meanwhile, Hon Fraser pointed out that the Minister for Communication and Works cannot do anything unless he receives the money from Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith (AL), Premier and Minister of Finance, while questioning if he received enough money to make the payments to the vendor.
He also questioned whether after full payment is received government will be guaranteed the asphalt from the vendor.
Hon Vanterpool responded, “We have been working closely with the Ministry of Finance to fund the payment to the vendor. Payment is being processed for full payment and asphalt is being promised when full payment is received.”
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14 Responses to “Gov't owes asphalt company $$; Reason for bad roads- Hon Vanterpool”
To deliver good roads to transport people and goods, they have to be properly designed, constructed, maintained, reconstructed........etc. A major design, construction and maintenance weakness is poor drainage; poor drainage is one of the major cause of premature road failure and needs focus. Another focus is maintenance, poor maintenance.
Assuming that roads are properly designed and constructed and to get the design life from them, they have to be properly maintained. A properly maintained road has many benefits, including 1) retarding deterioration, 1) extending road life, 3) preventing road mishaps, 4) reducing pothole dodging, 5) providing a more aesthetically pleasing infrastructure, 6) reducing rehabilitation and reconstruction cost, 7) reducing vehicle/equipment owners’ operating cost and 8) improving and maintaining rideability(serviceability). What does good maintenance entails?
Good road maintenance includes 1) low cost and timely preventative maintenance,i.e., seal coating, crack sealing, and overlaying, 2) pot hole patching and repair and 3) proper and timely drainage maintenance/repair. The lack of quality and quantity asphalt availability and payment I will leave to others on the ground at the 30’ level. Quality road reconstruction though is critical to fully reviving the tourism industry, a critical economic pillar. Though tourism does not generate as much government revenue as financial services, it employs more people, i.e., direct and indirect.