In an effort to silence those who doubt that the new Peebles Hospital will be completed anytime soon, Health Minister Ronnie Skelton yesterday promised to invite the media on a tour of the Tortola-based facility.
“Within the next two weeks, I will invite members of the media to join me on another tour of the facility, in order to provide the public a first-hand look at the significant progress being made on the building,” he told the House of Assembly.
Skelton further stated that he will stick to a commitment he made upon his return to office in November 2011 to complete the facility which had faced “several years of vexing and disappointing setbacks”.
Skelton noted that the development has been progressing steadily since construction resumed last year.
According to him, works during the month of March included mechanical reinstallation, wall finishes and casework installation.
Plumbing fixture installation also commenced.
“The Contractor’s approach has been to work downwards through the building starting with electrical conduits, then water supply lines, followed by the medical gas lines and then the air-conditioning ducts,” the minister disclosed.
“The cabinets, plumbing fixtures and final finishes follow after. This work is now well underway with significant activity on most floors down to Level 3.”
Addressing a community meeting in Cane Garden Bay last month, Skelton announced a delay in the handing over of the new Peebles Hospital by the contractors.
He earlier stated that the project would have been handed over to the government in August of this year for it to be equipped and commissioned.“We have some small technical difficulties that might delay the project a month or two but when you look at a project of this size being delayed for a further month or two, is not as significant as it sounds,” Skelton told the meeting last month.
Construction of Peebles Hospital started in 2000 and – according to the Health Minister – “by the time it is finished, it’s probably going to cost over $100M.”
The National Democratic Party administration, a few months ago, came in for criticism from First District representative Andrew Fahie over monies which continue to be poured into the multi-million dollar hospital project.
Fahie, who has publicly lamented the lack of proper financial planning for the initiative, said it will continue to eat up a lot of the money from the Consolidated Fund.
In September last year, Skelton told the House that for the past 14 years, some $99,440,581.35 was spent on the facility.
That amount did not include additional funds spent on the project by other agencies outside the control of the Health Ministry.
