LUCEA, Hanover — Chairman of the Hanover Parish Council Mayor Lloyd Hill has expressed concern about the delay in the resumption of construction on the $27-million Lucea infirmary.

“We are very concerned about the delay and we would really like to know what is holding up the project from restarting,” Hill said in a telephone interview with the Observer West recently.

The Department of Local Government brought the multimillion project to a halt last December, in the wake of a number of alleged irregularities on the project.

According to the department, investigations have revealed that design flaws were detected during construction due to unapproved modifications.

It was also reported that the estimates provided for the project were not properly done, resulting in a cost variation, while the unauthorised modifications led to the department having to absorb cost overruns and variations that exceeded the budget for the project.

Construction on the project began last October and was expected to be completed by the end of this month. The new facility would have replaced the more than 100-year-old infirmary which has been a source of concern for more than 20 years, due to its dilapidated state.

Hill said the more than 50 residents at the existing facility needed to be urgently relocated, due to the dilapidated state of the buildings.

“The buildings are in a terrible state, especially the male ward, and with the hurricane season just a few months away we were hoping that the new facility would be ready before the start of that season,” he said.

— Mark Cummings