With work stalled on the National Oncology Centre (NOC) for the past year, chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott) Noel Garcia says Government may have three options— terminate the contract, borrow a loan or scale down the size of the million- dollar project.
This was Garcia’s view as he weighed in on the project which has come to a grinding halt.
In 2003, former prime minister Patrick Manning promised to build the NOC at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mt Hope which was supposed to transform the way cancer patients are treated.
Back then, it was estimated to cost $144 million, but its costs has skyrocketed significantly.
Fourteen years later, and after five administrations, Garcia said only 32 per cent of the project has been completed,.
Garcia admitted that nothing has happened on the centre “all of this year. And it seems it would go into the next fiscal year without nothing happening.”
The project has been put on hold after Cabinet queried if they were getting value for money.
In the coming months, Udecott would get some definite word as to what would happen with the project, Garcia said.
Garcia said he cannot act unilaterally, but have to wait on Cabinet’s decision.
In addition to this, Garcia said things that go to Cabinet are referred to “FNGP and they are the ones who would question a number of things and raise a number of issues.”
He said while the project has been put on hold, he would have liked “things to go much quicker. but I am not FNGP (Finance and General Purpose Committee) I am not the Cabinet. I am subject to policy directions. I just have to accept the things I cannot change.”
Asked if Government had allocated money in this fiscal package for the project, Garcia said “I think so. I think not the kind of money that is required. I think it is a holding action really because I suspect if they are going forward with the Oncology Centre we probably may have to look for some kind of loan financing to go forward because it is a lot of money. I think the problem is the cost.”
From the offset, Garcia said the project has been riddled with challenges.
After the first contractor abandoned the job, Garcia said the architect experienced bankruptcy.
“Then it was discovered that the building was not conforming to the new seismic codes and had to be redesigned. So it is really a project that has had all kinds of challenges and probably needs a bush bath.”
The project is currently being undertaken by French contractor Bouygues Batiment T&T Construction Company.
In 2016, Garcia estimated the project’s cost at $700 million.
“The contractor is not working. They are virtually marking time for almost a year. You just can’t have the contractor in abeyance. So is either the Government terminate the contract or they decide to go forward with the contract or decide to go with a scaled down version of the contract. You just cannot be saying anything,” Garcia said.
Garcia did not agree with the centre being scaled down, stating that cancer is the leading cause of deaths in T&T.
“In Trinidad it is of epidemic proportions…from stomach cancer to liver cancer and colon. This would bring a relief to a number of people who would otherwise would not be able to get that level of sophisticated treatment. It would not cure cancer, but it would certainly afford people the opportunity to be treated.”
He said the most Bouygues can do was sue the State for standby charges.
“The contractor has that option, but I don’t know if they would want to excise it. In fairness to them they have reduced their workforce to a minimum. I don’t know if it would be worth their while to sue.”
The NOC, Garcia explained was designed with cutting edge technology, which would have taken up 55 per cent of the project’s overall cost.
“That was one of the reasons they were spending all of this money to build this state-of-the-art centre. But it has been bugged down.”
If the project gets restarted now, Garcia said the centre can be completed by early 2019.
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the project is before Cabinet.
“I can’t say anything to jeopardize Cabinet’s consideration,” Deyalsingh said.