PNP says Tufton must take responsibility for CRH delay
KINGSTON, Jamaica — People’s National Party spokesman on health and wellness, Dr Morais Guy, says health minister Dr Christopher Tufton must take responsibility for the delay in the rehabilitation of the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH).
In a statement today, Dr Guy blasted Dr Tufton, saying the minister “erred when he ascribed blame for the delay in the rehabilitation of CRH on the lack of capacity and technical know-how of the local contractor and in urging a case for foreign expertise”.
“Minister Tufton should simply accept responsibility for the chain of failures which has resulted in the setback of the project and the waste of millions of taxpayers’ funds,” Dr Guy said in responding to the latest statement that the delay is a function of the inexperience of the contractors.
Dr Guy also said that Dr Tufton’s suggestion to shift the project to overseas contractors is “an indictment on the skills level and professional capacity of our tradesmen and it is manifestly unpatriotic”.
“The Jamaican construction sector had contributed significantly to the development of Jamaica, not only in the construction of housing solutions, but the creation of New Kingston as a commercial space; the Michael Manley Building, now housing the National Housing Trust; the refurbishing of the Kingston Public Hospital; and expansion of the Mandeville Regional Hospital, which included the construction and commissioning of new medical facilities. Both hospital facilities are functioning examples of our capabilities,” he added.
According to Dr Guy, the country has to date spent approximately $60 million on the CRH for project management consultancy from a foreign consultancy which did not resolve the issues at the hospital.
He said the naming of a new group of project managers is “another episode of waste of public funds which seems to have become the hallmark of Minister Tufton and the Ministry of Health and Wellness”.
Dr Guy said last December at a press conference hosted by the opposition, he raised concerns regarding the progress of the work at CRH.
“I highlighted then that the original deadline of April 2018 was shifted to September and then again shifted to November 2019, and on top of that, in July of 2020, Minister Tufton stated publicly that the rehabilitation of the CRH was progressing well with the first phase slated to be completed in August,” Dr Guy recalled.
