The Attorney General is lashing out at what he calls a “farcical” opening of the Port of Spain General Hospital Central Block, claiming the facility was unveiled without the most basic equipment.
“If you went to that opening ceremony and you felt a little fluish, there was no Panadol for you.”
Speaking during the mid-year budget debate, Attorney General, John Jeremie accused the former administration of misleading the public about the opening of the Port of Spain General Hospital Central Block, which he said close to a million dollars was spent for the opening ceremony.
This he said was done, despite the hospital lacking basic medical tools.
“How can you open a hospital with no thermometer? Just now I ain’t done yet. No beds. No beds. No medicine.”
He argued that the opening was based on a misrepresentation of construction status, saying officials conflated legal milestones with actual completion.
“Throughout the entire hospital, do you know how many of those 10,000 pieces were in the hospital when they were eating cheese paste? I found out. Cheese paste, sandwiches, and sipping champagne? None. Zero. Zilch.”
The Attorney General also raised concerns about serious infrastructure issues, including incomplete plumbing.
“If you wanted to use the bathroom on the 12th floor, because it was pressurized, they made sure to put pressure in the place. But if you wanted to use the bathroom, let’s be real. The toilet on the 12th floor. Colleagues, on the 11th floor, there would automatically have been a disaster. And there was.”