Govt to develop US$132mn hwy through PPP

Trinidad and Tobago's government and a private entity will build a TT$824mn (US$132mn) highway between San Fernando and Princes Town in South Trinidad, local paper Trinidad Express quoted works and transport minister Colm Imbert as saying. The public-private venture will be the nation's first tollroad, although it will not be fully financed through tolls. "The tolls [under a normal concession scheme] would be out of the reach of the ordinary person," said Imbert. Instead, the tolls "would be less than is required to recover the cost of the road, but the money that is going to be accumulated from the tolls on this road will be put to the maintenance of the road." Authorities expect the highway to take three years to complete. The date to begin construction works is still to be defined. The project will be a fixed price initiative. "The private contractor - and certainly I would think that you are looking at international contractors in joint ventures with locals for this project - and the price will be fixed, so it will be up to the international contractor to ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget," said the minister. The expressway - with a 110km/h speed limit - will shorten travel time between the two towns from 30 to 10 minutes. Authorities decided to build the infrastructure after analyzing the significant amount of traffic between the two areas.