PM Reveals Marigot Hospital Will Be Built This Year, But Critics Remain Unsure

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has announced that the Marigot District Hospital will be built this year. He said the hospital construction project will be financed by a $5 million fund promised by the Mexican government as well as funds from the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) initiative.

Critics, however, maintain there is no substance to the announcement, saying this is not the first time the Skerrit administration would allocate funds to a national project without getting it done.

Skerrit maintained that his government now has the complete designs for the Marigot Hospital. He added the DLP government will be pursuing alternative avenues to raise money for the hospital since the Mexican government has not made the $5 million they promised available. 

I want to say to the country that we now have in hand, completed set of designs, drawings for the Marigot Hospital and we will commence the construction of the Marigot Hospital this year.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit

Skerrit explained that the construction and completion of the hospital is paramount to the government and the entire people of the Marigot Health District. He further added that opposition leader Lennox Linton has been using the delay in completing the hospital for political advantage. He accused Linton of attacking his government on everything from proposed hospital construction to budget issues.

“Utilising the Citizenship by Investment Program to help finance the hospital, our hope is that we could utilize the five million US dollars from the Mexican government once they agree to help equip the hospital, so there is no question about this government’s commitment to the hospital. I am hoping that this year we will see commencement of the hospital,” Skerrit stated.

The prime minister revealed that allocation for the hospital project is contained in the 2019/2020 budget which was scheduled for presentation to the Dominican citizenry. Critics however maintain that except they witness the ongoing construction of the hospital, they will not believe Skerrit, adding the prime minister is fond of putting proposals in the national budget without executing them.

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