On Saturday April 1st, the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) held a Media Conference outside the construction site of the new Point Fortin Hospital. The purpose of the media conference was to inform the country that work had effectively come to a halt on the construction site as no activity had been taking place for some two months. Further, given that there had been no communication by either UDeCOTT as project manager or the Ministry of Health as the client as to the status of the project, we charged that the PNM government and Borough had turned their backs on the people of Point Fortin in particular and the south-west peninsula generally.

Our media conference received widespread coverage in the print and electronic media in the two days that followed. There is an old saying “when you throw a stone in a pig pen the one that squealed is the one that got hit”.

Our statements provoked immediate responses by the Minister of Health and UDeCOTT, the latter not only issuing a media release but spent thousands of dollars to place full page ads in the daily newspapers. It was a waste of tax-payers’ money to say virtually nothing! They claim that work is ongoing because steel was being fabricated off-site and that foundation works were ongoing. The facts are that work on the foundations had come to an end some months ago and there have been few if any workers on site. If, as the Minister and UDeCOTT claim the steel has been fabricated, why wasn’t it erected right away? This is the dry season when construction works should be maximized. Why have two months of the dry season been allowed to go by without any activity? Is there something more in the mortar than the pestle?

Given that UDeCOTT has now entered the fray as well as the Minister of Health, the MSJ demands full and complete transparency on this project. We therefore pose the following questions to the Minister and/or UDeCOTT:

• Given that the principal contractor is the European firm VAMED, we demand that information be made public on the names of the companies that were the originally hired as the main sub- contractors on this project and the specific activities (e.g. foundation works; steel fabrication and erection; other structural works etc) that each company had been contracted to carry out
• Has there been any problem with any, or more than one, of the sub-contractors originally hired? If so, what problems arose and how have these been resolved? Was the contract of any, or more than one, of the sub-contractors terminated?
• If any of the answers to above is yes, then what are the names of the firms involved?
• If new sub-contractors have been engaged to complete the works, what are the names of these sub-contractors?
• How is this project being financed?
• If loan financing was obtained, from what source was it obtained? Was it from the European Union or any country or group of countries from the EU?
• If the answer to above is yes, what is the quantum of the loan and the terms of the loan?
• If there is loan financing, then have there been drawdowns on the loan? If not, why not? And, what if any, are the penalties being incurred as a result?
• How will UDeCOTT ensure that the 3-400 jobs that the Minister stated would be created during the construction phase, be allocated to the people of Point Fortin?

This Point Fortin hospital project is an issue that will continue to receive the attention of the MSJ as we give voice to the interests of the people. Full transparency is demanded now!