AS one of the most indefatigable public servants that this country has ever seen, Contractor General Greg Christie will naturally be in the front of the line when God comes in the great rapture – the “take-up” of his most favoured people.

Just what this corrupt country has always needed, zeal is his middle name. At times, however, one is forced to use the word “overzealous”.

The contractor general’s proactivity in being a “warner man” to the new government strikes the pose as the alter ego of John the Baptist; in the present instance, laying out a warning to the PNP administration to cease forthwith the contractual arrangements between China Harbour Engineering and the government of Jamaica.

He has raised “strong objections to the apparent intent of the former government to award, without international competitive tender, a sole-source contract to CHEC to, among other things, complete the construction of the Spanish Town to Ocho Rios North-South Link of Highway 2000 and the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP)".

If he has his way, the US$600 million deal with China Harbour for the completion of the North-South link of Highway 2000 and the granting of a 50-year toll concession/maintenance arrangement would be immediately stopped.

Will someone, somewhere, please wake up Mr Christie to the fact that China Harbour Engineering (CHEC) is a stateowned entity, that is, under the evolving economic/political arrangements in China it is subject to the Chinese government’s rules, regulations and control. Even while he was pontificating over the China Exim Bank-funded JDIP, the present matter concerning the North-South link of Highway 2000 involves not a loan but an investment of US$600 million by CHEC! In his zeal, was Mr Christie not aware of this?

Why would an overseas investor need the contractor general to insert himself in a process where the CG has, pretty much, no business?

I have in my time been a bit of a crusader on certain matters, but so far I have resisted efforts of earning my wings as a crusading angel. To follow the contractor general’s logic one would be tempted to believe that dozens of investors and zillions of dollars of FDI are eagerly waiting, outside of Jamaica’s territorial limit, for Mr Christie to clear the hurdles.

Well, I am not aware that this is so, and while I am not suggesting that Mr Christie temper his approach with a world view of big business and the interface with small economies like ours, it would be useful if he could balance his eager/angelic side with a global view that segues to the pragmatic.

Listed are just a few of the world-renowned projects that China Harbour has been involved in.

The Malta Dry Dock – which is, 360m long, 62m wide and 12.5m deep. The Northwest Rail Depot Building

http://www.chec.bj.cn/tabid/110/Default.aspx (Hong Kong). The EMU Building is 470m long, 60.4m wide, 11.2m high of reinforced concrete structure. The Macao International Airport – constructed on an artificial reclaimed island created by CHEC.

Then there has been the Qasim International Container Terminal – Terminal 2

http://www.chec.bj.cn/tabid/130/Default.aspx – located in Qasim Port, Karachi, Pakistan. The project includes mainly filling of container yards, construction of quay and berth dredging. The 3rd Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge – a cablestayed bridge of 15.6km in length and a main span of 648m.The main pylons are “A” shape constructed from steel and concrete.

There has also been the huge Damma Oil Terminal at the Port of Sudan - a 310m long quay and a 275m connection to shore and the Macau Grand Lisboa Hotel – a 228m high, 44-floor building covering 12,000 m2 .

In the grand scheme of things, China Harbour Engineering is no fly-by-night, “grab and flee” company. The company has been granted 160 awards for its signature projects, and among these outstanding achievements CHEC is also credited for the design and construction of the two longest sea-crossing bridges in the world, namely the Hangzhou Bay Bridge (36 KM long) and the Shanghai Donghai Bridge (32.5 KM long), both in China.

The new PNP administration is well aware of the goodwill stored up between Jamaica and China and someone in the administration needs to sit down with Greg Christie, share a cup of fevergrass tea with him and implore him to get some sleep before his zeal renders him an insomniac.

In this complex world where investment funds are not as liquid as they used to be, the Chinese, motivated by their need to gain influence and a physical space in the Western Hemisphere, have decided that Latin America and the Caribbean are ripe for expansion. Ever since Jamaica adopted the “one China” policy in the late 1960s under a JLP administration, the Chinese with long memories have not forgotten. In the more modern era, a new PNP administration will be well advised to continue this relationship to the benefit of Jamaica.

For those who came in late, in the 1960s almost all small economies on the Caribbean recognised Taiwan as a sovereign state. Jamaica broke from that and adopted a stance called the “one China” policy where mainland China was seen as THE China.

The Chinese have made Jamaica the hub of their business interests for Latin America and the Caribbean. Is Mr Christie not aware of this?

Once that Spanish Town to Ocho Rios leg is up and running, the potential economic benefits are enormous. Freight moving quicker, public transport saving petrol and getting people to their destinations faster, private car owners more willing to travel and spend their recreational money in rural areas in between.

Good sense must prevail in our association with China Harbour Engineering. I expect that the new PNP administration will apply all the necessary pragmatism and recognise that in this instance, the complexities are well worth our involvement with China Harbour Engineering. If there are those with an alternative route to fixing our physical infrastructure, let them spell it out and do so loudly.

In the interim, Mr Christie has a job to do even as Jamaica cannot await the luxury of God’s coming to build us all super highways. The Chinese can build them though.

— observemark@gmail.com

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