Troy Bridge to be completed in another seven months – Holness

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has hailed the ongoing construction of the new Troy Bridge on the border of Manchester and Trelawny as a beacon of hope for Jamaica's infrastructure revitalisation, symbolising a further step in the country's ongoing development.

The declaration from Holness on Friday came while he toured the construction works to replace the old bridge which collapsed over three years ago.

He said work on the new structure is set for completion in the next seven months.

The bridge, which links several Trelawny, Manchester and St Elizabeth communities, collapsed in August 2021 during the passage of Tropical Storm Grace.

Since then, residents have made several pleas for it to be fixed, citing the dangers that are posed when many pedestrians cross the Hectors River which Troy Bridge spans.

"The people of Troy will get their bridge in another seven months..., and they will be able to benefit from the convenience, and we hope that this will spur even greater economic activity and give convenience to the public," Holness said on Friday.

In July of this year, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for works, Robert Morgan, announced that work would begin on the project after Cabinet signed off on the rebuilding contract.

Holness said the new bridge will be "the symbol of the new Jamaica, where the Government is investing in renewing, rebuilding, revitalising, repairing and reinstating our aged infrastructure."

He said "not one cent" of the $230 million to build the bridge is from "borrowing", which he said represents "a major difference" in Jamaica today.

"If this happened 10 years ago, it is highly likely that 60 per cent of what would have been spent here would have come from some form of borrowing; so that's a major change," Holness declared.