NRA spends $2.3 million on new fleet
Vacuum tanker, one of the new NRA trucks
(CNS): Cayman’s National Roads Authority has been on a spending spree, purchasing 34 new vehicles and machines costing around $2.3 million. Official said the new equipment was needed to replace ones that were becoming unreliable and running up the maintenance bill. The authority said the money for the new kit came from its own fund and not from core government coffers. Vehicles that were over eight years old or had more than 100,000 miles on the clock, as well as heavy equipment over 12 years old, were replaced.
“The older units we were working with were too expensive to maintain and had a poor reliability record,” said NRA Fleet Manager Colford Scott. “The new purchases mean we are in a state of readiness to undertake special projects and provide more efficient maintenance of the roads.”
The NRA said it was able to upgrade its fleet without seeking cash from central government because of the creation of a ring-fenced fund for equipment purchases, all of which were approved by the Central Tenders Committee. It also raised a total of $234,644 by auctioning off the older equipment and used that money as well.
The NRA revealed that it had purchased the following machines and vehicles:
- Tractors, mowers and brush cutters (7 units)
- Rollers (3 units)
- Pickup trucks, panel vans, and compact utility vehicles (4 units)
- Excavator (1 unit)
- Grader (1 unit)
- Dump trucks (5 units)
- Vacuum truck (1 unit)
- Loaders and backhoes (4 units)
- Mechanical service truck (1 unit)
- Street sweeper (1 unit)
- Compressors (2 units)
- Sign boards (3 units)
- Trailer (1 unit)
Dump truck with felling equipment trailer
Domp truck with air high-lift tailgate
Street sweeper
Category: Government Finance, Politics
the people in Government have gone plumb mad!!! spending just for the sake of spending.
If you were given a pile of money for which you exerted no effort, you’d be a spending fool also.
taxing the people to death ..just to waste it huh????
New triple lane ETH has neither the oft-promised bike lanes nor an emergency breakdown shoulder. Curbing is laid months before the future roadway is cleared/acquired to begin work. Armco impact sites haven’t been re-evaluated after dozens of skewering incidents. How do these errors in plan and procedure go unnoticed through all of the NRA gatekeepers? At least they’ll have working trucks for the do-overs.
Patience is a virtue. Read between the trees.
A couple hours ago I watched a cyclist dismount to avoid getting hit by a speeding truck on the ETH with millimeters to spare. Before another needless eulogy and misadventure inquest, perhaps someone senior from the NRA and DRCL PR machine can comment on the absence of break-down areas and cyclist safety buffers in the multi-lane racetrack they are building as part of their agreement. CPI Minister Joey Hew should also comment.
Breakdown areas? On a stretch of road a few hundred feet long? Get real. Florida Turnpike this is not. Speed limit, still 40mph. Bike lane, stay tuned, or go to the NRA and ask to see the plans.
The NRA gatekeepers that are responsible for the cluster at the end of Crewe Road? Those ones?
Morons! Stagger it. Buy 10 new a years and maintain them properly otherwise we will face a time when they are all broken and all require replacing at the same time again in a decade. Stop planning for the next election and wasting money!
Except for the headline, CNS you took great care to report the positive aspects of this story.
1. They were old vehicles that are being replaced (over 100,000 miles on the clock)
2. The are costing a lot to maintain
3. Central Government didn’t pay for the purchase, it came from ringfenced depreciation funds earmarked specifically for this purpose.
Still people moan and find fault with it. Why can’t anything please you people, my goodness, bunch of crabs man!!!
Lipstick on a pig. So not actual real money then?
Well, one would assume that with all this new beautiful equipment we might get to work on he governments portion of he Esterly Tibbbetts Highway. Darts done and all I’ve seen is NRA Workers standing around on their shovels. If you wNt it done on time and right call Dart.
The Performance standards and attention span are closer than you think, the only difference is the piggy bank used to rapidly pave over mistakes.
nra= social welfare programme
Fat City. I’m fine with it (as if that matters) but how about a few new garbage trucks.
And how about some more ambulances. There is exactly 3, yes 3, ambulances for the whole island. Disgraceful and seriously endangering lives. But oh no lets have some shiny new trucks for the NRA.
Just another day in Absurdistan folks.
Shiny new toys! How soon before they get wrecked? Shall we run a book? (subject to Cayman laws of course which would not allow us to do that.)
Sounds like its easier to buy new TOYS than to actually use them in building roads. I’m sure they will be driven by five guys at the same time or used on Easter Weekend to move camping equipment.
Where’s the equipment to replace the road surfacing machinery that was shipped to the Brac at Juliana’s dictate to pave her constituent’s driveways.It’s ludicrous after spending $2.3 million we still need to pay private contractors to pave the roads in Grand Cayman.
The NRA can’t even fix our potholes.
Spend, spend, spend…
How much of this will be wasted on the Brac? The Brac should get the old gear since it is such a consumer of public funds without contributing anything like a fair share.
We live in a totalitarian state now where our government is God.
Resistance is futile.
The end game is total control of all human energy so that our elite controllers can feed off us.
Perhaps it is time to watch the Matrix again?
What bothers me is our ignorance.
We are so swift to throw around “tin foil hat” slurs without having done a lick of research.
At the end of the day, only truth matters.
If your life is fine, dandy and blessed, then great, but if you have a beef with the system that holds you in its grip, then I would say that you are in a majority.
Please speak up, people.
Our politicians, government officials and many of the clergy are all reading off the same sheet.
So how many of these are to replace the vehicles sent to the Brac which have been left to rot over there. Is there any other machinery in the Brac sitting idle or mostly idle that could be used over on Grand Cayman so as to lessen the need to contract privately at a higher cost? Just some thoughts for a Monday…..
This sounds like all the equipment was worn-out, or they got a package deal . But why so many mowers / bush cutters? Why does the dump trucks have to have hydraulic tail gates , more expensive and more trouble when trouble starts .
That one lil street sweeper going to keep where clean exactly? Ju Ju’s driveway?
Wherever it is needed…
I bet Juliana can’t wait to get all that gear on some private driveways in the Brac!
Haha I want to know more about this.
You must be fairly new to the island then..