After three years of construction, a Chinese-built North-South Highway has opened on the island country of Jamaica.
The new toll road will directly connect the Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, in the south to the resort beach city of Ocho Rios, in the north, reducing a two-hour drive by less than half.
The project marks the biggest Chinese investment in the Caribbean to date and officials said there’s more to come, including a new deep-water shipping port with an investment amount that could be double the cost of the highway.
Jamaica gave the China Harbour Engineering Company, which built the highway, a 50-year concession to recover its costs. The company also received land alongside the highway to develop for residential and commercial use which could mean more jobs and more growth in the near future.
