GREEN ISLAND, Hanover — ​The University of the West Indies (UWI) has detailed a comprehensive capital expansion and modernisation project for its Mona and Western Jamaica campuses, set to be executed over the next three to four years.

​Key developments in the short to medium term include the construction of a 50-bed hospital in western Jamaica, alongside a new School of Engineering and a centralised campus hub at the Mona site.

“The truth is that Mona is on a transformational path, and what we’re seeing is that we are reviving the systems and procedures and processes about how we do things at our Mona campus. We are talking about modernising the campus, not only in terms of infrastructure work, but in terms of our governance, in terms of our academic programmes, and also in terms of the processes and systems that we do,” stated The UWI, Mona principal, Professor Densil Williams.

Williams shared the plans with the Jamaica Observer following his presentation at the inaugural Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Higher Education Leadership Conference 2026 held at Princess Grand Hotels and Resorts in Green Island, Hanover, last Thursday.

He also detailed the plans for the Western Jamaica campus.

“We have great plans for our Western Jamaica campus as well, where we’re going to be building out a proper global health facility. We’re going to be looking at a 50-bed hospital over there, and we’re going to look at a teaching and research complex for medical education in western Jamaica…We’re going to overhaul the current site of the Western Jamaica campus to look at business and management education and also short and professional courses as well,” said Williams, who noted that all these are long-term plans that will be done “step by step”.

The principal said ground-breaking for the Mona project is expected by the end of this calendar year, with completion anticipated within 18 to 24 months. The Western Jamaica project will follow approximately two years later.

The UWI, Mona principal pointed to the importance of a step-by-step approach to risk management, ensuring all projects align with the university’s financial realities.

“We risk manage them, we build, we see how they operate, we look at the returns, and then we move to the next phase,” he explained.

While no cost was provided for the Western Jamaica campus project, the plan for the Mona campus is estimated at US$30 million, and the university does not intend to pass these costs onto students.

“All our capital projects are not going to touch on our existing operational budget at the campus. We’re looking at new revenue streams to support these projects, so it will require us to actually get into the international space and get international students etc to come and finance those projects as well,” explained Williams.

WILLIAMS…all our capital projects are not going to touch on our existing operational budget at the campus (Photos: Anthony Lewis)

In fact, the principal said students will benefit even more “because they will have more modern facilities and they will not be asked to pay any significant amount in terms of increased tuition for these, because we’re diversifying our revenue stream to pay for these projects. So we’re looking at commercial operations, international students, etc to pay for these.”

Williams explained the importance of the Mona campus — the founding campus of the regional institution started in 1948 — undertaking such a massive project at this time.

“We just have to modernise our facilities, and that’s a key driver. Our facilities are, in some cases, 30-40 years old, and they don’t really have the kind of modernity to deal with the kind of technological revolution that we’re dealing with — to deal with AI and those kinds of things. Our labs need upgrading, etc, and so we have to look at the overall infrastructure overhaul that is supporting the campus,” Williams insisted.

The principal said the influx of overseas universities offering their services on the island also played a key part in their consideration.

“The truth is that we’re not resting on our laurels. The education industry has become much more competitive, and as a result of that, we have to now actually forecast what the future will look like, and we have to lead the future. I mean, let’s make no mistakes about it, UWI is still the number one recognised university in the Caribbean, and also within the top 1.5 per cent of the best universities globally. We have that reputation; we have to use it. We have to leverage that reputation,” said Williams.

The three-day conference, which ended last Friday, was held under the theme ‘Transformational Leadership for Institutional Excellence and Sector Renewal’.

It was aimed at bringing together leaders of Jamaica’s publicly funded higher education institutions, board chairs, representatives of key sector agencies, and ministry officials to examine strategies for strengthening institutional leadership, enhancing governance, improving student success, advancing quality assurance, and positioning the higher education sector to respond to emerging national and global priorities.

In reflection, Williams explained the importance and benefits of the conference to tertiary institutions.

“Initially, when we thought about it, we said that we have never really had a coming together of the higher education sector just talking about what the challenges are, how we finance ourselves, how we look at future sustainability and stuff.

“I really want to thank the Ministry of Education for hosting this particular conference because what it has done is to bring all the stakeholders together over a three-day period, where we can discuss and we can dialogue about the future of higher education and what are the lessons we can learn from each other to make sure that we build a financially sustainable sector and we also build a resilient sector for the future. So I think these conversations are extremely important, and I look forward to further dialogue with our colleagues within the higher education sector,” added the principal.