Finally!

MOUNT SALEM, St James — The opening of the refurbished Accident and Emergency (A&E) department at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) on Friday was accompanied by an apology from Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness to the people of western Jamaica for the prolonged delay in completing the facility’s $23.5-billion rehabilitation.

Holness acknowledged that the near-decade-long undertaking to rehabilitate the 52-year-old, 10-storey hospital might have been completed more quickly had the Government opted to demolish the structure and build a new facility from the ground up.

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“In retrospect, it may have been a quicker operation to have torn down the building and just built it anew. But politically, we’re not certain whether or not the public would have appreciated that. But I can tell you, going forward, the economics is that it is better to just tear down those old buildings and build brand new,” said Holness.