By *Jomo Sanga Thomas
(“Plain Talk” Oct. 11, 2024)
The financing of the hospital project is quite worrying. For me, the worry goes beyond the numbers, which jumped from US$98 million to US$125 million. Opposition parliamentarian Daniel Cummings was on to something during the debate. However, reporting on the financing, which won bipartisan support in Parliament did not flesh out what Cummings said except for criticising the government for not sending the contract to tender.
To understand where I am going, a little history is needed. As early as 2010, the Unity Labour Party touted the idea of a new hospital. The government may not have been in a rush to secure funding and build the hospital because PM Gonsalves said health and hospital service was not a priority because only 6% of the population polled listed it as essential.
In 2022, things have changed. The pro-government Searchlight newspaper carried a piece feathering Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves. In the piece, Gonsalves disclosed that the World Bank agreed to lend SVG US$64 million of the projected US$98 million for the construction of the hospital. Even more critical was Gonsalves’ revelation that the bank, on Aug. 8, 2022, “credited the country US$51 million”. He said he expected the remaining US$13 million by July 2023. Gonsalves also disclosed that the remaining US$30 was secured from OPEC’s Fund for Overseas Development (OFID).
The finance minister’s disclosure appears to be authentic. In a press release dated Aug. 10, 2022, the World Bank said, “The World Bank approved a $51 million credit to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to modernise hospital services and build a more resilient and sustainable health infrastructure and system, including the construction of a new acute care hospital and health sector reform.”
The release quoted IMF official Michele Gragnolati, who said, “We are excited to support the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with this project that blends much-needed health sector infrastructure investment with system reform. This project will play a catalytic role in modernising hospital services for generations to come while leveraging primary care and transforming the health system. This investment will provide accessible, high-quality hospital services to the population and reduce the need for costly overseas care.”
If our country was credited US$51 million in August 2022, why did construction begin in July 2024? Why are we borrowing US$125 million with the excuse that the cost of materials has gone up? If our finance minister is to be believed, the government in 2022 had already secured all of the financing for the hospital in 2022. (US$64 million from the World Bank and US$30 from OFID. Therefore, the explanation that waiting for the World Bank loan would have delayed the construction of the hospital by one year is without merit.
Moreover, the explanation that the money will be repurposed for Hurricane Beryl relief does not meet muster. Multilateral institutions like the World Bank do not work in such a whimsical manner. There is no way the government can negotiate a US$64 million loan to build a hospital and then decide to do whatever it wants with the money. Additionally, what happened to parliamentary oversight? Can a government have parliament approve a loan for a hospital and then spend the money as it pleases?
Another set of questions looms large. Did the government secure up to US$85 million by August 2022 and just sit on it, waiting to start construction closer to the 2025 election? If it did, such a partisan approach to governance would cost our country an additional US$27 million because the construction cost has ballooned to US$125 million. Could it be that the government spent the World Bank and OFID money it secured in 2022 for the hospital and was compelled to borrow US$125 from Taiwan?
Should we not interrogate and investigate what appears to be an incestuous relationship between Taiwan and the Gonsalves administration? St. Vincent and the Grenadines has a debt portfolio with Taiwan close to $1 billion. Because Taiwan desperately needs to buy friends (only 14 countries recognise the country), is Taipei aiding and abetting official corruption with these loans? A bigger question is whether Taiwan is improperly interfering in our internal affairs by funding projects intended to impact the outcome of elections. Why did the government fall over itself and disregard the tendering board in awarding the construction of the hospital to Taiwan’s Overseas Engineering and Construction Company?
Based on the Aug. 22, 2024 debate in Parliament, there is a question as to the actual cost of the hospital. Did father Ralph and son Camillo contradict themselves in their presentation on the hospital project? Searchlight newspaper, the unofficial voice of the government, carried a piece captioned “Parliament Approves US$100 million loan for Hospital”. The paper said Gonsalves countered opposition claims that the contract is worth US$120 million.
However, in the same article, Searchlight quotes Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves as saying the government sought a loan of US$125 million to build the hospital and the healthcare resilience project. Which is it? Do we have the loan, or is it still seeking one? What is the healthcare resilience project? How much will it cost?
With nearly one-third ($1 billion) of our national debt owed to Taiwan, the ULP government intends to place a bigger “hook in the nation’s gill”. Vincentians must ask whether this relationship benefits SVG or the corrupt governing elite.
*Jomo Sanga Thomas is a lawyer, journalist, social commentator and a former senator and Speaker of the House of Assembly in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The opinions presented in this content belong to the author and may not necessarily reflect the perspectives or editorial stance of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].
Pay attention!
The opposition have to be more tactical. When they said they will go to China, saying that wasn’t smart. The fruits of that is a loan that should build a new hospital but won’t be looked over. This means the government can do whatever the want with that loan. Taiwan want to make sure this administration stays there to do their bidding.
Excellent article Jomo; you have to stay on to of the issues.
This article (above) makes a lot of sense Jomo. It surely highlights the question: what the ULP is doing with all the money they’re borrowing all about the place, when unemployment is at almost 50%? It’s clear to me the ULP are crocked and filling their own bank accounts at the expense of the SVG people.
It’s time we begin to factor in the mental acuity of PM Gonsalves. The man is 78 years old and doesn’t rest properly. That is not nothing. Considering all the missteps he’s making