Cabinet has approved an additional $1.5 billion for the Graded Overlay or GO Road Rehabilitation Programme.

The Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development says the money will fund urgent rehabilitation of national roads, with particular emphasis on western Jamaica and other corridors it says require immediate intervention.

Chevon Campbell, tells us more.

Minister with responsibility for Works, Robert Nesta Morgan, says Jamaicans will see considerably more road rehabilitation activity between now and December.

He says extra attention will be paid to heavily travelled main roads, school routes and corridors important to public transportation and economic activity.

The works will include road-surface rehabilitation, localised pavement repairs, targeted resurfacing, asphaltic sheeting and the repair of damaged shoulders and edge breaks.

The GO Road Programme will cover thoroughfares maintained by the National Works Agency, NWA.

The Agency will carry out inspections then rank the roads for treatment based on technical assessments, road-safety risks, traffic volumes, strategic importance and the severity of deterioration.

Contractors will be required to correct any work that falls short of the required standards.

Morgan describes the programme as a sustained islandwide exercise that will run through December alongside works being done under SPARK, the Special Capital Expenditure Programme and other national infrastructure initiatives.