WATCH: PM issues stern warning against extortion at Spanish Town Hospital construction site
ST CATHERINE, Jamaica – Prime Minister Andrew Holness has issued a stern warning to gangsters and extortionists, urging them to stay away from the construction site for the redevelopment of the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine.
Holness made these remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday.
“Let me tell all the gang members who are licking their lips, looking on big fat contracts to come, none of that will happen here! I want to say loud and clear, we have already started to work with the JDF [Jamaica Defence Force] and the JCF [Jamaica Constabulary Force]. This will be a military camp if it has to be. There will be no extortion here, no illegal activity here, no controlling of site here,” the Prime Minister said.
“Tax-payers’ money can’t come here and people have name on list who don’t come here to work, collect pay and then use it to buy gun. [It] cannot happen!” Holness declared.
The renovation of the 430-bed facility is valued at approximately $5.5 billion and will involve constructing a state-of-the-art, six-storey facility covering more than 17,000 square meters.