Sell that hospital!

JUST OVER two years after the Government purchased St Joseph's Hospital in Kingston, the cutter-in-chief, Patricia Sinclair-McCalla, has recommended that it return to private hands.

The Public Sector Master Rationalisation Plan, which was tabled in Parliament as a green paper by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, has listed the hospital among 16 entities that should be privatised.

St Joseph's has been recommended for a public-private partnership. The Public Sector Master Rationalisation Plan said the review of St Joseph's Hospital should focus on identifying income-generating opportunities and developing it into a self-funding facility.

A similar public-private partnership approach has been recommended for Jamaica Exotic Flavours and Essences.

At the same time, the Public Sector Master Rationalisation Plan has recommended that parish cemeteries be privatised, as well as the Rural Electrification Programme.

The master plan also calls for the Ministry of Local Government to be scrapped.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who tabled the report as a green paper, stressed that the recommendations do not amount to imminent government decisions.

"We felt that it was important to present it as a green paper because it is of such fundamental importance that we feel it requires and would benefit significantly from public discussions," Golding said.