Delays in Cornwall Regional rehabilitation not to be blamed on lack of local expertise - McDonald

 

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. 

 

"Another thing that is not good in this country is that we believe that there is magic in overseas. I have never subscribed to that. I don't subscribe it and I do believe, having been involved in construction in one form or another for some time, I believe that the expertise is here. I believe that we can criticise what they do and so on. But certainly, the blame really cannot be laid at the feet of the contractors," he insisted. 

 

Instead, Professor McDonald argued that it was government bureaucracy and the slow procurement process that were to be blamed for the delays, noting that even getting documents signed can take a long time in government. 

 

Lenworth Kelly, President of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica, has also rejected the health minister's assertion regarding a deficit in local expertise required to complete the restoration of Cornwall Regional Hospital. 

 

He contended that the real issue lies in the procurement process, where "the job has to be assessed properly" and the relevant solutions prescribed.   

 

"This idea about going overseas... remember who built Jamaica. Remember who has been building Jamaica. I keep telling people I don't know why, suddenly, it seems that we can't build anything anymore," he lamented.