Durrant Pate/Contribute

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen has articulated the Government of Jamaica’s (GOJ’s) focus on continuing to accelerate long-term infrastructure delivery during the upcoming 2026/2027 Financial Year, announcing that the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation has been renamed the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development.

This renaming of the Ministry is aimed at sharpening the GOJ’s focus on sustained economic expansion and national resilience, with Jamaica’s strong job-creation gains and expanding capital programme. 

Delivering the 2026/27 Throne Speech in Parliament Thursday morning, Allen updated the nation on some of these infrastructure projects, such as the much-heralded SPARK Programme, which is revitalising and strengthening the nation’s road infrastructure, had reached 20% completion as at December 2025.

Major national projects also advanced significantly, such as the Montego Bay Perimeter Road, which is now 75% complete and scheduled to be completed in September 2026; the Long Hill bypass, scheduled to be completed in January 2027; Barnett Street in March 2027, among several others. 

“Construction of the Portmore Resilience Park will also be finalised in 2026/2027, while capacity expansion continues under the Special Capital Expenditure Programme, including the dualisation of Braeton Road and Hellshire Main Road, and the phased Arthur Wint Drive–Tom Redcam–Camp Road upgrade,” Allen announced in his Throne Speech.

Bridge and land titling programme

The Accelerated Bridge Programme will also begin replacing structurally vulnerable bridges. Land, housing, and urban planning reforms remain central. The Systematic Land Registration Programme has produced over 13,000 titles, including over 10,000 delivered across St. Elizabeth, Manchester, and St. Catherine. Through strategic funding partnerships, the GOJ will continue to increase the issuance of titles. Additionally, to improve efficiency, the contract for the Electronic Titling System was signed, and implementation is planned for 2027/2028. 

To improve our capacity, the Andrew Holness administration is also advancing our partnership with the Koreans for our Surveyor Training programme. Under the New Social Housing Programme, Sir Patrick disclosed that 314 units (720 rooms) have been completed, benefitting more than 1,100 Jamaicans. He stated that ”delivery of more housing units through different modalities will be achieved by using new building methods and systems, giving an opportunity to more small contractors, especially our young people.”

He reminded the parliament that following Hurricane Melissa, the Government led major recovery efforts: clearing most of the over 400 impacted roads within five days after the event and restoring access for emergency response, utilities, and relief operations. This work, he argued, will now transition into targeted repairs to hurricane-damaged roads, gullies, and drains—including Sandy Gully in St. Andrew and the North and South Gullies in St James—supported by an expanded national drain-cleaning programme.

Tightening the real estate sector

Legislative priorities for this sector this financial year will include the Quantity Surveyors (Registration) Act, Registration (Shared Community) Act, and reforms to the Real Estate and Rent Restriction Acts, alongside policies on squatter management, urban renewal, construction-industry reform, and public-rights-of-way governance.