Caption: Unfinished works at the Central Block of the Port of Spain General Hospital. AZP News/Alicia Chamely
By Alicia Chamely
THE newly constructed Central Block at the Port of Spain General Hospital (POSGH) is not 85% complete despite claims from the previous administration that it would be operationalised in July 2025.
However, both Minister of Works and Infrastructure Jearlean John and Minister of Health Lackram Bodoe have pledged to have the block completed as soon as possible.
John and Bodoe, along with Minister in the Ministry of Health Dr Rishad Seecheran and members of UDECOTT, hosted a media tour of the Central Block at the POSGH on Friday.
The media was given access to all 12 floors of the 365,000 square foot facility.
John noted that when the previous administration accepted the practical completion of the facility on March 10, media were only allowed on one floor which served as a demo floor.
Stressing that the previous administration claimed the facility was 85% complete and pointing to open ceilings, bare concrete floors and an empty room that was to be an operating theatre, John said the facility was nowhere near 85% complete.
John said, “March 10, when the government accepted practical completion of the construction, this was the floor that was mocked up and the way we started from the basement up, the media was not allowed on those floors.”
She said, “At the time they accepted that the project was 85% complete. You would have seen for yourself. Even today this project is not 85% complete and this is four months after the election.”
John added, “Even when the claim was made that this hospital was going to be open, operationalised in July, it could not have been.”
She said UDECOTT had assured it was 90% complete; however, she said through her experience, it was not.
John said, “I am being told it’s 90% complete, but I have done these things over the course of my career, I wouldn’t say it’s 90% complete. I wish it was.”
Addressing when the block would be open, John said, “We would not unreasonably delay the opening of this hospital, we can’t because the people need it.”
Confirming John’s statements on the need for urgency, Bodoe said currently there were 11,000 patients waiting for surgery and the opening of this facility was vital.
He said, “We look forward, of course, to the 540 beds that this hospital, when fully completed and ready, will be able to serve the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.”
Bodoe said, “So from what I am seeing here, there is still a long way to go in terms of this facility being ready to house patients.”
Mirroring John’s statements about the facilities readiness, he said, “From this walk through it doesn’t appear to be 90% complete at all.”
Bodoe added the arrival and installation of the medical equipment was no until March 2026, noting that beds would not matter if there was no equipment to treat patients with.
He said, “As Minister John stated, our government is all about working for the people of Trinidad and Tobago and we anxiously await the day this hospital will be fully open and operational to benefit all the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.”
