Work is continuing to transform the former Ocean View hotel into a hospital for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients.
During a visit to the site yesterday, Stabroek News observed a significantly higher number of construction workers.
Another concrete building has been constructed in close proximity to the actual hotel building itself, but on-site supervising workers were tight-lipped as they were instructed to not speak to the media.
Last Saturday, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan said that it will cost over $1 billion to transform the hotel into a specialized care facility for COVID-19 patients.
“To retrofit and outfit it will be more than a billion [and this] excludes running cost,” Jordan said yesterday during an interview with the Department of Public Information.
Last Thursday, Director General Joseph Harmon told reporters that financial arrangements were still being worked out for the ongoing works and added that the major rehabilitation had begun without a signed contract.
Other statements made by Harmon suggest that the facility, which is owned by APNU+AFC coalition supporter Jacob Rambarran, is likely to be used in the long term for specialised health services. “Going forward we may not have pandemics, we may have epidemics and so on but going forward that is going to be a facility for this purpose,” Harmon said.