As Jamaica gears up for the busy Christmas season, a new emergency roadworks initiative is hitting the ground — this time with a $1.6 billion injection aimed squarely at the worst-hit corridors across the island.
Minister Robert Morgan has confirmed that the freshly launched Graded Overlay Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (dubbed the “GO Programme”) is already underway, targeting key arteries crippled by flooding, pothole degradation, and structural erosion. Unlike previous campaigns, the GO Programme is laser-focused on rapid intervention — not drawn-out rebuilding.
High-Impact Zones First
The plan zeroes in on corridors that move Jamaica’s economic engine: roads that connect produce markets, serve emergency responders, or function as essential trade and transport lifelines. Early works began in Kingston on West Kings House Road, with major pushes expected in St Elizabeth, St James, Hanover, Trelawny, Westmoreland, sections of Clarendon and St Ann.
Morgan was clear — this is not a reboot of the REACH programme, a $3-billion effort deployed earlier this year in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. Rather, the GO Programme is a stopgap solution to urgent vulnerabilities exposed again by Hurricane Melissa.
“We’re not pretending we can overhaul everything,” Morgan said bluntly. “The truth is, many of these roads are at the end of their life cycle. This is about triage. We fix what we must, where we must.”
A Patchwork of Programmes
This latest push folds into a wider, multi-pronged government strategy. While the REACH programme was focused on immediate post-disaster response, and the SPARK programme carries the weight of long-term rehabilitation, GO is the bridge — fast, focused, and strategic.
SPARK (Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Road Improvement) is Jamaica’s heavyweight in the long game. With a $45-billion allocation, it has already seen 62 roads fully paved, another 58 underway, and 27 more mobilised. By March 2026, the government expects over 280 roads to be completed under SPARK alone, spanning all 63 constituencies.
So far, SPARK has consumed $5 billion, with the lion’s share targeting major thoroughfares that carry heavy daily volumes of vehicles and goods.
Winning the War, Not the Argument
Despite the investment, Morgan admits criticism will continue from citizens whose daily commutes remain obstacle courses of craters and crumbling asphalt. But for him, the road to national development isn’t about pleasing everyone in the short term.
“You won’t win on roads,” he said. “You win on development. Each programme moves us forward. It’s not perfect — but it’s progress.”
Indeed, the Government’s approach isn’t a one-shot cure. It’s an evolving matrix — a combination of emergency overlays, long-haul infrastructure strategies, and constituency-level targeting.
As Christmas traffic surges and Jamaicans hit the roads to travel, shop, and reconnect, the GO Programme may not fix every bump in the journey — but it’s a bid to make the ride a little less punishing.
