LUCEA, Hanover

Deteriorating conditions at the Lucea Infirmary have forced the Hanover Parish Council to step up its search for a suitable location to house the 53 inmates under its care, ahead of the start of the 2007 hurricane season, which officially begins on June 1.

“We really want to relocate them before the start of the hurricane season because the condition there is worsening,” said Lucea mayor and chairman of the Hanover Parish Council, Vasca Brown.

The existing conditions at the near century-old building on Lucea’s waterfront, which houses the inmates, have been a source of concern for almost a decade.

The building, which suffered severe structural damage in 1998 during the passage of Hurricane Gilbert, was made even worse in 2004 when Hurricane Ivan, a category four storm, hit the island.

When the Oserver West visited the facility last week, sections of the wards were crumbling. A closer look at the buildings revealed rotting boards, huge cracks in the walls, large holes in the ceilings and rotten zinc sheets, particularly in the male ward.

Several parish council officials, including Lucea’s deputy mayor Audley Gilpin, have long argued that the buildings that house the inmates are structurally unsafe, pointing out that they were unlikely to withstand another hurricane.

Brown noted that since the persistent showers began in the area last week, the infirmary’s staff had to be moving the inmates around in an effort to prevent them from getting wet.

“Whenever it rains, we have to put the patients in the middle or the corner of the wards, and put out basins to catch water,” said the mayor.

Other buildings, including the matrons quarters, dining areas and administrative offices also appeared to be in a precarious state.

Stressing the urgent need for the relocation of the inmates, Brown said officials from the local body are taking a close look at the Dias and Cacoon health centres in Hanover to find out if those facilities are suitable to accommodate the inmates.

The Hanover Parish Council has operational responsibility for the infirmary, but its financing, as well as all other parish-based welfare homes, is controlled by the Ministry of Local Government.

The ministry’s director of technical services, Dwight Wilson, acknowledged that the infirmary was unsound, but said that the ministry was unable to find a suitable location to construct a new infirmary.

“We have the designs ready for Hanover, but the issue of finding suitable lands still needs to be addressed,” he said, adding that the ministry was also looking at constructing temporary buildings on the existing site.

“The problem is that Lucea is not the easiest place to find the required space so it is becoming very challenging to find a place to relocate the residents with those special needs,” Wilson said.