ROSE HALL, St James — Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has revealed that construction of the $5.7-billion Western Adolescent and Paediatric Hospital has been hit by a shortage of skilled labourers.

Fielding questions from the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday in St James, the minister said construction is progressing well. However, he noted that while advertisements were put out for certain categories of workers, more Chinese may have to be imported.

“It is a difficulty. The reality is that the work that is taking place nationally, whether in construction of one form or another, there is a shortage of certain skilled labour. So that has created a little challenge. We anticipate that we may see more skilled labourers coming in from China to support the Chinese contractors, not necessarily because it is a desired position, but because we don’t have the local personnel,” said Tufton.

“We placed an ad on the social media pages [for] carpenters and masons because we need local labour content outside of the Chinese workers who are given permission to come in,” stated Tufton.

“But as far as the project is concerned, it’s going well. I am very encouraged. I think we’re close to the second floor now and it’s going up day by day. I am very encouraged that it’s going to be a really nice product based on what we see happening. So, I am very encouraged by that,” the minister added.

When asked, the minister pointed out that he does not believe that the delay in getting these categories of workers will result in the project being delayed.

“I don’t think so. I think we are being proactive and looking at what is required and then pushing on getting the pace that is required by either bringing in the labour or working the hours that are necessary to keep the project on track,” he said.

The hospital was scheduled to be completed last year but work was brought to a halt in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers on the project went back home to China. Work later resumed in June of this year following the arrival of workers from that country.

Addressing a ground-breaking ceremony for a new RIU hotel in Trelawny in April, Prime Minister Andrew Holness spoke of the labour shortage and the possible need to import skilled workers. The statement later sparked a national debate.

“I am not convinced that we need to make too much of an issue of it because the reality is, it happens now,” stated Tufton who added, “I mean, we talk about the Chinese contractors. We see the Chinese are here.”

“There is no doubt that in many areas, nurses, for example, we have a shortage. That is known. The issues around needing to bring labour in, for me is not an option. It is going to become necessary if we are not to slow the pace of economic development and growth in a number of areas,” the minister added.

Tufton said Jamaica is one of the most open societies in the region where people from developed countries are represented here in business in some way, shape, or form.

“The people who make an issue of the utterances of the prime minister and others that we need this greater openness are ignoring the fact that we already have it and without it, we will be worse off,” stated Tufton.

“Now, it is a fact that we need to do more to train and to upscale our local population because there are people who are either underemployed or unemployed and are in a hustling mentality where they are not sufficiently skilled,” the minister added.

Ground was broken for the six-storey, 220-bed hospital on the compound of the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Mount Salem on October 23, 2019.

Funding is being provided by the governments of Jamaica and the People’s Republic of China. The project is being managed by the Urban Development Corporation.

When completed, the state-of-the-art facility will be the only one of its kind in the Caribbean that will be able to treat children and adolescents up to 16 years old.

On Wednesday, the minister said Phase 2-B rehabilitation work on the nearby Cornwall Regional Hospital is also progressing well. This includes concrete and steel reinforcement among other aspects of work.

“That was what this phase was intended to do. We are finalising discussions around the final phase, which is where you are going to put in the partitions, windows, the doors, and all of that,” stated Tufton.

“We are hoping that sometime next year that will start, hopefully sooner rather than later, which is why I said that I am hoping that if we don’t occupy a full building, we will occupy parts of the building sometime in the latter part of next year. But I am convinced now that the work is going well and that we are on track in terms of understanding what is to be done and doing what needs to be done,” he added who noted that ”we have learned a lot of lessons.”