Highway 2000's P1 to be launched August

The first operating stretch of Jamaica's Highway 2000, the 14km Old Harbor bypass toll road, is set for an August 1 completion, the Jamaica Gleaner reported. The stretch, linking St. Catherine parish to Clarendon parish, was orginally due for June, BNamericas previously reported. Contractors and concessionaires, TransJamaica Highways Ltd, are heading up works. TransJamaica is the joint venture company owned by the highway's builders, French consortium Bouygues Travaux Publics and French toll road operators AFS Ltd. Bouygues Travaux Publics won two years ago a 35-year concession for the project. The toll rate has yet to be fixed by the transport ministry, the paper added. The government will consult with experts from the Malaysian highway authority to determine final toll charges when they arrive later this week. The toll will be payable by cash or electronic card at seven toll booths along the stretch. Phase one, some 71km from Kingston to Manchester will cost some US$390mn, with the Jamaican government providing up to US$107 million of the total amount in loans to Bouygues. Both Kuwait's government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have also supported financing. The next construction phase will connect capital Kingston to Portmore, though no launch-date was specified. The complete project calls for 236km of highway linking capital Kingston on the Caribbean island's south coast, with Montego Bay and Ocho Rios on the north coast, passing through St. Catherine, Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover and St. Ann parishes, and is estimated to cost some US$1bn total due to the underdeveloped interior which will pose an obstacle to construction, BNamericas previously reported. The project is the largest transport infrastructure undertaking in the Caribbean region.