Cabinet approves one road authority framework

The announcement was made by Minister with responsibility for Works, Robert Morgan, at yesterday’s post-Cabinet briefing.

The ORA will be established as an executive agency under the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development (MEGID). Its core mission is to dismantle the longstanding fragmentation among entities managing the island’s road network — a fragmentation Minister Morgan directly blamed for uneven road quality, inconsistent standards, and a lack of uniform accountability.

“The establishment of ORA represents a major governance reform aimed at improving road outcomes across the island through consistent, clear, and accountable standards,” Morgan stated, revealing that Cabinet approval was granted last week.

The minister outlined a four-pronged practical mandate for the new state agency. First, it will enforce a single, nationwide standard for all road works, ensuring consistent quality and durability from parish to parish. Second, ORA will strengthen quality assurance and compliance monitoring, holding contractors and executing entities accountable for meeting these mandatory standards.

Third, the Authority will introduce stronger performance reporting to boost public transparency on how road projects are delivered. Finally, for national main roads, ORA will assume direct implementation, bringing what Morgan called “greater discipline” to planning, procurement, contract management, and, critically, maintenance programming.

This shift toward a structured, programmed approach is designed to break what the minister described as a costly and reactive cycle. “These measures will help Jamaica move away from the cycle of repeated emergency road patching each year and toward a structured, long-term national programme for road maintenance and rehabilitation,” he emphasised.

The policy framework approval clears the path for the necessary legislative and administrative steps to formally establish the One Road Authority. 

Stakeholders in construction, engineering, and local government will be watching closely as the government moves to translate this approved framework into a functioning entity, promising a new era of uniformity and accountability for Jamaica’s roadways.