Prime Minister Godwin Friday says that a new Parliament building, which the former Unity Labour Party (ULP) government proposed to build in Beachmont, Kingstown, is not a priority for his government.
Friday said the New Democratic Party (NDP) administration will focus on completing the US$78 million hospital under construction in Arnos Vale.
The prime minister said on Hot 97 FM that the national assembly will continue to meet at the Temporary Parliament Building in Glen “for the foreseeable future”.
He reiterated the position he established in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the then government borrowed US$20 million for a new Parliament building.
“I said this when I was in opposition, that for me, given … the financial situation in the country, I didn’t think that the Parliament building, as desirable as it is, [would] have been my number one priority, especially when the whole notion of that came up during the COVID crisis,” said Friday who led the NDP to a 14-1 victory over the ULP in the Nov. 27 general election.
In June 2020, the ULP administration pushed ahead with a US$20 million (EC$53 million) loan for the construction of a new Parliament and courthouse buildings, even as the then NDP opposition withdrew its support, saying that doing so during the COVID-19 pandemic is wrong.
“And that’s where I said the phrase, … ‘put the money where the pain is’, because people are suffering, and you’re talking about building a Parliament building,” Friday reminded radio listeners during his appearance on Hot 97 FM recently.
The Parliament used to meet at the 200-year-old building in Kingstown, which was built to be the home of the legislative council and the courthouse.
However, the last sitting was held there on June 1, 2023, as the two-storey building, located across from the historic Market Square, is in need of extensive repairs, which were expected to begin sometime after the High Court, which is located on the ground floor, was relocated.
The High Court continued to sit in the mouldy, woodlice-infested building through July 2024.
Prime Minister Friday noted that, while he was opposition leader, he had said that a comfortable chair was good enough for him, rather than a new Parliament building.
“Let’s do the business where we are until we have a little bit more … fiscal space to be able to do those things,” said Friday, who is also minister of finance.
“… it’s not a priority for me to build a new Parliament building. I want to be able to … get the hospital completed, so that the people can have basic proper health care.”
The NDP had promised since 2015 to construct a new hospital.
In October 2024, the ULP broke ground for a US$78 million hospital at Arnos Vale, which Overseas Engineering and Construction Company, a Taiwanese firm, has been given 32 months to complete.
Friday said his government would also be exploring its proposed national health insurance.
“I spoke with the CEO at the NIS (National Insurance Services) … and that was one of the main subject matters that we discussed,”
The prime minister said he believes SVG must have a national health insurance system.
“I believe we have to do it because the notion that somehow you can’t afford a national health insurance scheme or prom or programme is like saying somebody gets sick, ‘Well, you’re on your own. You die’,” Friday said, noting that people get sick whether or not there is a health insurance service.
“So, the question we’re asking ourselves is, how do we manage that? What’s the best way to do it? And for me, and it’s not rocket science,” he said, noting that other countries have also confronted that question.
“They say it’s better to do it as a broad base, where the younger help the ones who are more vulnerable now. … it might happen. It might not. At some point, you’re going to need the help.”