The Paget Farm clinic is on the list of health centres to be reconstructed with monies from the second tranche of the Saudi Fund for Economic Development. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves spoke on the matter on Sunday.
On Saturday night, the St Vincent Times published an article in which residents said the government needed to move quickly with the building of the clinic and police station so as to free up the community centre for residents to use.
“We have nearly 20 clinics that are down for repair or commencement of construction to replace other clinics. The question is whether we have the capacity to do all of it.”
“The bulk of the money will be coming from the second tranche of the Saudi fund money, and the agreement is going to be in place for Finance Minister Camilo Gonsalves to sign with the Saudis on the 18th of April when he goes up for the annual spring World Bank and IMF meetings. Hopefully I could get it into Parliament on the 14th of May because we have to put it in a legal form with a bill.”
Gonsalves said the Paget Farm clinic would cost over three million dollars to reconstruct.
In 2020, the PSU instructed nurses at the Paget Farm Health Clinic to relocate to the Port Elizabeth Hospital after earth movements shifted the facility’s base, causing portions of the building to detach from each other.
Residents told the St. Vincent Times last week that two people have moved into the old clinic, which they call ‘Hotel Casablanca’.
Gonsalves did not make any mention of a new police station for Paget Farm on Sunday.
Officers were transferred out of the police station nearly a decade ago, first to a rented house and subsequently to the community centre. The building has not been repaired and has been left to be devoured by the forces of nature.
