Deputy Prime Minister St. Clair Leacock said he held “focused discussions” during his official visit to Taiwan last week about the Taipei-funded hospital under construction at Arnos Vale.
Speaking at a press conference in Kingstown on Wednesday, two days after his return to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Leacock said that the hospital was eight months behind schedule when the New Democratic Party came to office in November 2025.
“It has further slipped. So we are about 12 months behind now with the schedule,” he said.
In 2024, the then-Unity Labour Party government borrowed US$125 million from Taiwan, with about US$78 million going to the construction of the hospital.
At the groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 26, 2024, the government said the 134-bed acute referral hospital, the contract for which was awarded to Taiwanese firm Overseas Engineering & Construction Co. (OECC), would be completed within 32 months.
The ULP government had said it would keep the maternity and paediatric wards at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital in Kingstown.
However, after taking office, the NDP government said it would build maternity and paediatric wards at the Arnos Vale hospital, thereby turning it into a general hospital.
Leacock said his delegation met on Friday with the Department for the Overseas Investment Development Corporation, a Taiwan government-backed investment company that promotes international infrastructure projects and economic cooperation.
He said the department specialises in construction through its subsidiary, OECC, and supports infrastructure in Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
“And when you talk OECC, you’re talking about the hospital at Arnos Vale, naturally,” Leacock said.
“After the interaction, both sides were clear on each other’s perspective on the hospital, including the New Democratic Party government’s commitment to delivering a state-of-the-art general hospital at Arnos Vale to the Vincentian people as close as possible to, if not ahead of, the agreed timeline,” he said.
“The discussions were frank but fruitful in communicating the New Democratic Party government’s commitment to the project.”
The deputy prime minister said he would not go into further details, “save and except to say that I had the privilege to accompany the Minister of Health in meetings between the consultants to this project, the contractors to this project and our own client.
“And it was forcefully relayed to the constructing firm that we must resolve all the nuances that are necessary to catch up with the backlog and to get this project back on time,” Leacock said.
“Not that it is just politically sensitive, but our people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines deserve affordability, accessibility and availability of the most modern hospital facility.”
He said this was “properly represented” to the consultants.
“They, of course, identified some of their own issues and concerns, and I think they’ll be visiting St. Vincent shortly to continue with conversations with the minister of health and the prime minister on the urgencies that should be attended here.”
The other members of Leacock’s delegation were his wife, Margaret Leacock; Shevern John, minister of Social Welfare and Community Empowerment, Ecclesiastical Affairs, and National Heritage; and Lavern King, senator and minister of state in the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Innovation, Digital Transformation, and Information.
Taiwan has allocated a $40 billion defence budget for 2025 to purchase weapons from the United States. Yet, when it comes to securing UN support from the small island state of SVG, its efforts appear minimal, limited to a handful of police vehicles and assistance with the Arnos Vale hospital, a project to be carried out by a Taiwanese construction firm, allowing much of the loan money to flow back to Taiwan. Mr Leecock, it seems, has taken on the role of an unquestioning and overly compliant pre-Gonsalves-era supplicant. What SVG truly needs is astute, strategic leadership capable of navigating this complex geopolitical landscape.