Highway 2000 East-West benefits from the alliance of best-in-class transport infrastructure companies guided by the long-term vision of the Jamaican public sector.
A partnership vision
The Jamaican state-owned entity, National Road Operating and Constructing Company Limited (NROCC), oversaw the design and construction of the project, provided contingent support, and acquired land necessary for the construction and operation of the highway.
In November 2001, NROCC formed a partnership with the privately-owned entity TransJamaican Highway Limited (TJH), the Developer of the Highway, to coordinate the development of the highway network, including its financing and construction.
TJH was formed after a French-based leading construction company Bouygues Travaux Publics won the bid, collaborating with VINCI Concessions (whose subsidiary VINCI Highways is a world leader in road concessions and toll services, experienced in constructing/operating of 3,695km of road network in 14 countries), to develop and operate the Highway in Jamaica, and together serving as its parent companies. A Concession Agreement outlining the obligations of NROCC and TJH was signed by the entities in 2001. Of special mention, Bouygues and the VINCI Group both played for the construction, and continue to play today in operations, a key role in the 80,000-seat Stade de France sports stadium in Paris, which was designed to host games for the 1998 Football World Cup where Jamaica’s own Reggae Boys played and made us proud.
Delivering the construction with combined expertise and resources
To carry out the construction of the highway, TJH contracted with the Jamaican Branch of Bouygues Travaux Publics (BYTPJ) as the main builder. BYTPJ combined the expertise of international personnel skilled in constructing world-class highways as well as the invaluable knowledge of Jamaican workers already familiar with building on the local terrain.
Moving forward with successful operations and great client experience
Since 2002, maintenance and operations on Highway 2000 East-West have been handled by Jamaican Infrastructure Operator Limited (JIO), the Operator of the Highway, a private expert controlled by VINCI Concessions (51 %) in partnership with Bouygues Travaux Publics (49 %). JIO’s scope involves operations of the Highway 2000 East-West, including toll collection, surveillance, traffic management, emergency response and routine maintenance, on behalf of TJH.
JIO maintains an Integrated Management System (IMS) that is certified to quality ISO 9001:2015 and environmental ISO 14001:2015 standards. JIO’s teams are committed to ensure the highest level of Customer Service and best travel experience to their clients, this is supported by a 79% overall favourable opinion in the 2019 Customer Satisfaction Survey, conducted by an independent agency.
Ownership changed hands, Operations continued
In 2019, TJH’s private foreign stakeholders sold the totality of their shares to NROCC which, subsequently, retained 20% and took the opportunity to offer for sale 80% to the public through the Jamaica Stock Exchange in February 2020. The IPO, which gave Jamaicans the historic opportunity to own a piece of the country’s major infrastructure, received tremendous interest and was closed one week prior to its original closing date due to oversubscription. While TJH’s ownership has changed hands, and TJH and NROCC entered a Second Amended and Restated Concession Agreement in this year 2020, they both ensured the continuity of the operations and management of the Highway 2000 East-West’s legs through their historical operator JIO.