Troupe compares CRH to a tenement yard
Published:Friday | April 14, 2023 | 1:32 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Michael Troupe, the councillor for the Granville division in the St James Municipal Corporation, on Thursday came out swinging at the municipality’s monthly meeting, lashing out about the constantly increasing costs for the restoration of the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay.
Troupe, the minority leader of the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) in the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)-controlled municipal body, complained that the restoration cost of the hospital is constantly increasing while the hospital is not meeting its obligations to the public.
“A lot of persons have died from 2016 to now, and a lot more are going to die before that hospital is complete. Every time there is a tour of the hospital, the price goes up,” lamented Troupe. “ ... Everything is broken down. That is not a hospital; it is a tenement yard.”
Troupe drew the indignation of other councillors as he registered his frustration with the shifting cost to rehabilitate the Mount Salem-based Type A hospital. At present, the budget for the hospital’s restoration, which started out at J$2 billion, has ballooned to $14.1 billion.
“The cost for the hospital is coming from $2 billion to $12 billion, and now it is $14 billion, and the prime minister came and said it is going to cost more,” said Troupe. “Is it going to be on a rollercoaster, where the price goes up monthly, or is it going to be a steady price?”
During a tour of the CRH on April 1, Prime Minister Andrew Holness suggested that global inflation could further affect the projected budget for the hospital’s restoration.
Councillor Dwight Crawford, the councillor for the Spring Garden division, took issue with Troupe’s characterisation of the situation at the hospital, saying he was politicising the restoration work.
“Reckless leadership is being displayed here because we are building a hospital, and if we were to work out the square footage of what it would cost to build a new hospital, it would be two or three times more than what is being spent. There is a time for politics, but when you deal with people’s health, draw the line,” Crawford said to Troupe.
Mayor Leeroy Williams also took aim at Troupe, pointing out that he was absent from a recent town hall at which Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton outlined the progression of the rehabilitation work.
“You were invited to the meeting at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre, and we did not see you. You were invited to the meeting so that you could ask whatever questions you have, and you did not turn up. When the CRH is finished, you are probably going to have one of the best hospitals in this part of the nation,” said Williams.
The CRH’s restoration was triggered by a noxious fumes issue, which came to national attention in September 2016 and again in February 2017. As a result of the fumes, which affected both staff and patients, some of the hospital’s services were relocated to off-site locations.