Parliament approves use of funds for new Geriatric Hospital design

Government has moved closer to providing a new Geriatric Hospital, following Parliament’s approval of almost $1.5 million for the design of the new facility within the environs of the National Botanical Gardens.

The $1 452 000 was part of a total $1 984 050 being taken from the Consolidated Fund to supplement spending for the Prime Minister’s Office. Parliament on Monday approved a total $2 226 311 from the Fund to supplement the 2021/2022 Estimates.

Introducing the money resolution, Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn said the $1.452 million would be used by the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (BTII) which is managing the Urban Rehabilitation Programme in Bridgetown – within which the project falls – “to deal with the design aspect of this facility”.

“If we are going to provide a much more scenic and idyllic environment for our elderly population to be able to spend out their golden years, we feel it is important that we get this work started and . . . this specific intervention here is to allow [the BTII] to be able to start the development works with respect to the design of the new Geriatric Hospital while we work, Sir, to make sure that we can deal with the other administrative matters here,” he said, noting that the Government also still intends to transform the space between the existing hospital in Beckles Road and Government Headquarters and further discussions on that are required.

Adding that the BTII has a track record of executing projects of which the country can be proud, the Minister noted that while the hospital will be managed by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Government felt that since the country is “at what, I hope, is the tail end of the more extreme end of measures we’ve had to take in response to COVID . . . we’re allowing them [the Ministry] to refocus on restarting the normal provision of health services to the country, and allowing BTII to deal with the design side of the project at this stage”.

Of the Botanical Gardens where the hospital will be built, Straughn said: “There couldn’t be a better place to locate our elderly population than in a very serene, idyllic environment which is envisioned for that wonderful space at Waterford.”

The remaining $532 050 of the supplementary for the Prime Minister’s Office is going to the Future Barbados Framework, a major transformative initiative under which the Government is working with young people from The University of the West Indies and other institutions to help it settle on goals for 2026, including earning at least $100 million through either new revenue or cost savings.

Straughn said the programme was reviewed at mid-term and the supplementary funds would allow the transformation exercise to continue.

The Minister said the two initiatives for which the $1 984 050 has been allocated form part of Government’s “transformational agenda”.

“It is still early days for both, but we certainly look forward to seeing the benefits of the investment,” he said. (DP)