Runaway Bay, St Ann – A section of decking, measuring about 800 square feet, at the Bahia Principe Club hotel, now under construction at Pear Tree Bottom in this north coast resort, collapsed yesterday afternoon injuring three workers, one of whom was in serious condition at the St Ann’s Bay Hospital up to late afternoon with broken ribs.

The names of the injured workers have not been released and the top management of the property was said to be locked in a meeting and could not be reached for comment.

The mishap occurred at around two o’clock while concrete was being poured from a pre-mix truck onto a section of one of the upper floors of the building.

Three of six workers in the vicinity were injured, one seriously. He was rushed to hospital by the emergency medical team, which arrived quickly on the site.

“We suspect that he has suffered several broken ribs,” medical officer of health for St Ann, Dr Patrick Wheattle, told the Observer as he was leaving the site.

A crane and several other heavy-duty equipment were used to clear the rubble while workers looked on nervously to see if any of their colleagues were trapped beneath.

Shortly after four o’clock, there was a rush by the workers on the property towards a section of the area being cleared, prompting onlookers and several news reporters on the outside to believe that they had discovered a body. This, however, was not the case.

Senior Superintendent of Police for St Ann, Ray Palmer, later said the police were satisfied that there were no persons trapped under the rubble, despite fears being expressed by the huge crowd gathered at the perimeter fencing guarding the property.

Mayor of St Ann’s Bay, Delroy Giscombe, who toured the site with his technical team, which included Superintendent of Works George HoSang and Building Officer Ronald Bernard, later blamed poor workmanship for the incident, saying metal support beams should have been used instead of wooden ones.

“The reason, I believe, is shoddy workmanship,” Giscombe said. “For decking of that magnitude you cannot use two-by-four (wood). It’s impossible for two-by-four to hold that amount of weight, it’s almost a hundred feet long.”

According to the mayor, the wooden support gave way under the weight of the concrete.

“We showed them what they needed to do and if it continues there might be further problems,” the mayor warned.

Mayor Giscombe said a building officer from the Parish Council had been stationed at the site since construction began last October.

Several persons expressed disgust at the refusal of the security guards at the gate to allow entry to persons who had family members working on the site and who were concerned about their safety.

The hotel, being built by the Spanish-based Pinero Group in three phases, will be Jamaica’s biggest resort property with 1,918 rooms and a 900-seat conference facility. The first phase of 734 rooms was originally scheduled to be finished by October this year.

It was not clear yesterday whether the collapse will cause the completion deadline to be pushed back.

The hotel represents part of a massive influx of investment in Jamaica’s tourism sector by Spanish interests, said to be in the region of US$1.3 billion.

It is the second time in a year-and-a-half that a section of a hotel under construction in St Ann has collapsed. In November 2004, a section of the 800-room Riu Club hotel in Mammee Bay gave way while concrete was being poured from a pre-mix truck. Two workmen were injured in that incident.