MP wants Sav Infirmary $42m funding withdrawn

WESTERN BUREAU:

Morland Wilson, the member of Parliament for Westmoreland Western, is calling for the $42 million, which was granted to the parish municipal corporation for the Savanna-la-Mar Infirmary project, to be withdrawn, citing poor management.

While the infirmary is not in his constituency, Wilson is contending that the people in the parish deserve better leadership, noting that the fund, which is to build a new male ward and a matron’s quarters, was granted from 2017, but to date, no substantial development has taken place.

“Three years later and the project is still incomplete, with some 20-plus social cases occupying much-needed beds within the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital,” said Wilson, while making his contribution to the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. “As a representative of my people, I would like to see this project recalled, thereby dismissing the contractor and having a new arrangement made.”

“The people deserve better. The people deserve a system that works for them,” argued Wilson, whose sentiments echoed a recent statement by Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie.

In response to McKenzie’s concerns, Savanna-la-Mar’s mayor, Bertel Moore, who is chairman of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, blamed the project’s delay on Ava Murdock, the superintendent of the Roads and Works department, who he said refused to follow his instructions.

‘NO COMMENT’

As it relates to Wilson’s request for the project to be recalled, Moore scoffed at the suggestion, calling it a case of political expediency.

“I am not in support of halting the project. He [Wilson] is dumb to politics and does not know what he is talking about,” said Moore. “He is trying to move faster than he can actually go. The council is running the project, and they have a works overseer, who runs it … so we pay the workers, and so on. It’s not like we have an independent contractor.”

“I confirmed with my staff working on the project, and I am told that it will be completed by the end of December. The matron’s quarters is completed. It only requires furniture, that is being procured, and she can move in at the end of this month,” said Moore.

George Wright, the independent MP for Westmoreland Central, the constituency in which the infirmary is located, refused to comment on Wilson’s request.

“I have no comment,” said Wright.

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