Prime Minister Gaston Browne has acknowledged that fully resolving Antigua and Barbuda's road infrastructure challenges will take several more years, even as the government reports steady progress on key rehabilitation projects.
According to Antigua News Room, Browne made the remarks while responding to a parliamentary question on the status of road repairs, pointing to ongoing work on All Saints Road and the Sir Sydney Walling Highway as evidence of the administration's commitment to the issue.
"We have thousands of miles, and evidently, it's going to take us a number of years to substantially resolve the road issue," Browne told Parliament.
The prime minister said the government chose to deploy the Public Works Department rather than engage an external contractor for the rehabilitation work, calling the decision both effective and economical. He noted that the department is completing the work for less than half the cost that a Canadian firm had proposed to rehabilitate the 13-mile stretch of road leading to English Harbour.
"We have decided to utilize the services of Public Works. They're doing an excellent job," Browne said.
While Browne stopped short of providing a firm completion date, he expressed optimism that significant milestones would be reached in the near term.
"Even though I don't have a precise timeline, I presume that perhaps in the next couple of months we should make significant progress and would be nearing completion," he said.
Road rehabilitation remains one of the government's stated infrastructure priorities, with investment continuing across the national road network.
