MONTEGO BAY, St James — Opposition Leader Mark Golding has indicated that if the People’s National Party forms the next Government there will be a probe into the ballooning budget for the delay-plagued renovation of Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH).

“We are going to have to investigate carefully how that money is spent as well because this Government has a reputation for nepotism and cronyism, and we don’t want to have a situation where there is impunity for that type of conduct,” he told reporters in Montego Bay on Sunday night, after introducing the People’s National Party’s candidates for both local and general elections.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) has indicated that the estimated cost to rehabilitate CRH has ballooned from the $10.5 billion initially projected to $14.1 billion. When it began in 2019 the price tag for the multi-phased project was $5 billion.

The Government has repeatedly indicated that the scope of the work has changed and inflation has impacted the sourcing of equipment, resulting in the escalation in prices.

On Sunday, Golding spoke of the need for accountability.

“We will have to investigate to make sure that there was proper value for money for all those additional billions and billions of additional dollars that have been spent here at Cornwall Regional over and above the original projection,” he said.

The PNP president also promised that if his party should form the next Administration and the project is not completed, a team will have to be put in place to expedite the renovation.

“The hospital is a scandal. It is an absolute disgrace that renovation of the only Type A hospital in western Jamaica has been going on now for years and years, and the cost just keeps mounting and there is no end in sight. It is absolutely deplorable, and we would have to put a serious team in place to make sure that it is finished as quickly as possible. If it’s not finished by the time we assume Government [then] we are really going to take control of it,” Golding said.

The completion date for the rehabilitation is now projected for March 2025. Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton recently revealed that the St James-based facility will begin phased operations by the middle of next year.

Former senior medical officer at Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital, Dr Alfred Dawes — the PNP’s candidate in St Catherine South Eastern — also criticised the length of time the work is taking.

“From I was at Sav hospital we hear that Cornwall soon done, and it can’t fix all now; billions and billions in cost overruns. It is the symptoms of a diseased health sector and the prescription is that of PNP Government to fix it,” Dr Dawes told Comrades in Montego Bay.