St. Lucia Times
Par
Keryn Nelson
On Friday, Construction & Industrial Equipment Limited (CIE) and Arab Towers Contracting Company officially signed contracts to undertake the implementation and civil works for the continued reconstruction of St. Jude Hospital.
Caribbean Consulting Engineers Limited and Dar Al Omran have also signed contracts for the design and supervision of the project, dubbed the St Jude Hospital Reconstruction Project (SJHRP).
At the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Philip J Pierre said the companies involved had experience in building hospitals.
He announced that “the supervision contract is worth $2.9 million,” while the implementation and works contract “is valued at $63 million.”
Regarding the selection of companies, Paul Hilaire, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development, said: “The tender and procurement processes were conducted with the utmost transparency and fairness, with the selection of our consultants and joint venture contractors being the result of a highly competitive process. This allowed us to choose partners who not only met our high expectations in terms of quality, but also offered the best value for money for the significant investment we are about to make.”
Joint ventures with Saudi companies to build the hospital are part of the deal that saw the Pierre administration sign a $75 million loan from the Saudi Fund for Development in August 2023.
During the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Pierre revealed that the financial commitment is a 20-year loan, with an interest rate of 2% and a grace period of 5 years.
He emphasized the climate component of the deal, saying: “We can ask for a renegotiation and a postponement of key interests and agreements during a time of disaster.”
Mr. Pierre explained how the $63 million borrowed for implementation and civil works should be disbursed.
During that analysis, Pierre noted that a structure, often referred to as “the box” by the current government, that was under construction by the previous administration led by Allen Chastanet and was eventually to serve as the new St. Jude Hospital, but was not completed when the party lost the 2021 general election, will be included in the SJHRP.
Pierre explained: “…the east wing work is $10.7 million; the surgical building is $9.7 million; the laundry, kitchen and medical equipment is $8.5 million; exterior work and electrical is $15.3 million; weatherproofing is $6.3 million.”
He added: “…volunteer quarters, gymnasium, ambulance and morgue buildings USD 4.4 million; south wing works including ceiling and shielding works USD 1 million.”
Pierre added: “The work on the south wing encompasses what is commonly referred to as ‘the box’. We will protect this structure for future use.”
Other items, including “contingencies and one-year maintenance for spare parts and supplies, which is $7.9 million,” were also taken into account, specifying that “equipment will comprise $4.1 million.”
In his address at the ceremony, the CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development, HE Sultan Abdulrahman A. Almarshal, said that the new hospital will have “a capacity of approximately 100 beds.”
Almarshal revealed that “the hospital will also be built with improved climate resilience, ensuring its long-term sustainability.”
As for when the rebuilt St. Jude Hospital will open on its original site, the prime minister said: “I won’t say when. I will say in the near future.
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