PRESS RELEASE (September 29, 2021) — The Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) is criticizing the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) for what it describes as poor governance and incompetence in managing the affairs of the island of Nevis, particularly in the area of healthcare.
Close to five years have passed and the Alexandra Hospital Expansion Project, which broke ground in 2017, is yet to be completed, after a number of inexplicable errors.
Leader of the NRP, Dr. Janice Daniel-Hodge, on Tuesday, September 28, took the Premier and the NIA to task for failing to complete the works ongoing at the hospital, which is located on the outskirts of the island’s capital (Charlestown).
Dr. Daniel-Hodge, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, challenged the Premier of Nevis who also serves as Senior Minister of Health. She said the Premier “must think about the hospital that is not even halfway completed, having started 4 years ago and counting…”.
“Let him ponder on treating our nurses better. They deserve not only an increase in pay but an additional monthly stipend just for putting their lives on the line. Our frontline workers deserve better,” the NRP Leader said.
NRP’s candidate for St. Paul’s (Charlestown) Ms. Jaedee Caines also slammed the NIA in a Facebook post, last week, when she said “our patients deserve better! Our nurses and doctors deserve better! We in Nevis deserve better!
Where is the love for the PEOPLE who you say MATTER MORE? Did our health only matter in 2017…an election year? We need to do better in this place!”
“I for one was super excited about this project. How can I not be in favour of a move to improve health services on my island? I waited patiently for this project to take off and eventually be rolled out,” Ms. Caines said, adding that “4 years later, all we have is a display of block alignment and stacking. Not everyone is able to travel to St. Kitts regularly or even further afield for some of these basic services.
On May 31, 2017, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on the grounds of the hospital for the start of construction of an expansion project which was estimated to cost EC$18million, according to an article penned by the NIA’s Department of Information.