The Tribune

THE cost of the repairs for the damaged John F Kennedy Drive will be covered by the contractor’s insurance, Minister of Works and Urban Development, Philip “Brave” Davis confirmed yesterday.

It was last Friday that someone, believed to be a disgruntled worker, destroyed more than 7,000 feet of asphalt on JFK, doing more than $1 million in damage.

Speaking outside the House of Assembly, the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed: “I think they have an insurance claim on there and the insurance will assess the damage and they will have to pay for the damage.”

Mr Davis also told the press that the contractor responsible for the JFK roadworks, Emile Knowles “works for a Chinese construction company.”

And responding to a question about prior work Mr Knowles had done, Mr Davis said: “He did some work in the Family Islands, many years ago... I can’t speak to that definitively, but many years ago.”

On Tuesday, prior to a Cabinet meeting, Mr Davis said that renewed efforts to finish the project could start sooner than next week now that police have finished their investigations into the matter.

“This has inevitably caused a setback but I’m advised that they will be starting almost immediately to commence the repaving of that side of the road... We could begin next week or even sooner.”

According to sources, the culprit stole a tractor and began digging up the road in a “zig-zag” fashion so the road could not be “patched” but had to be entirely redone.

The Tribune understands an employee of Knowles Construction, the sub-contractor for the project, was being questioned in connection with the incident. Sources say the workers were complaining that they had not been paid for “quite some time”.

Mr Davis said on Tuesday, an issue involving workers who claimed to have not been paid by the project’s contractor appeared to be true. He could not say whether this provoked some persons to retaliate.

“The question is motive,” he said. “Why would someone want to do what they did in the manner they did and I think a motive could be someone who is disgruntled. I’ve heard that vendors who wouldn’t been supplying materials and labour have had some setbacks in payments, delay in payments, but whether that has contributed to this, I don’t know.

“Repairs on the airport gateway is to be covered by risk insurance of contractors,” he added. “Hopefully whatever the insurance liability will be, we’ll sit down with them to determine the balance, but the primary source for the repairs will come from the contractor’s insurance.”

A source close to Emile Knowles had told The Tribune, Tuesday night, they do not believe the contractor’s “late payments” might have been an issue that could have led to the incident.

They also added they did not believe any outstanding funds that Mr Knowles might owe are “to the extent” that anyone would want to harm his business interests.

The damaged road is a part of the $70 million Airport Gateway Project that started in 2011.

The government had signed a $67 million contract with China Construction America Incorporated for the construction of the project and the Bahamian construction company, Knowles Construction.

The project includes the construction of a dual carriageway along John F Kennedy Drive; the rehabilitation of the existing carriageway for east-bound travel; construction of nine roundabouts; the underground installation of a 24-inch water main that will take water from the west to the east of New Providence; the underground installation of all electrical services and low voltage cables; the relocation of telecommunication and cable infrastructure; dense landscaping and the completion of ancillary work, including drainage, signage, street lights and accesses.

The project encompasses approximately 6.2 miles of road, running from Windsor Field Road to the new six-legged roundabout on John F Kennedy Drive.