WESTERN BUREAU:
Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has come under a torrent of criticism from construction and engineering interests for claiming that Jamaica lacks the technical expertise to handle major renovation projects such as the three-year-long rehabilitation of Cornwall Regional Hospital.
The Jamaica Institution of Engineers (JIE) and the major umbrella group of construction stakeholders have slammed the minister as misguided, with one expert deeming Cornwall “a messy, messy project” that had all the hallmarks of bad planning and cavalier spending.
Don Mullings, managing director of M&M Construction, the firm that carried out repairs to the roof of the 400-bed Type A hospital, considers offensive the minister’s characterisation of contractors as being out of their depth. He argues that contractors cannot deliver outside their mandate.
7:59 pm, Thu December 17, 2020
Professor Archibald McDonald, Chairman of the Cornwall Regional Hospital Independent Oversight Committee and Lenworth Kelly, President of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica
Professor Archibald McDonald, Chairman of the Cornwall Regional Hospital Independent Oversight Committee, has disagreed with Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton s assertion that delays on the hospital rehabilitation project are to be blamed on a lack of local expertise.
Dr. Tufton had said Jamaican contractors and project managers were out of their depth and international expertise would be critical to moving forward.
However, speaking Thursday on the
Morning Agenda on Power 106, Professor McDonald said he believes local contractors are capable of handling the project.