The long-awaited National Oncology Centre, set to be built at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC), Mt Hope, will not be completed by November 2014–the projected date announced by Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan last year.While Khan said on Wednesday by telephone that the centre would "hopefully" be opened on time, at least partially, the agency responsible for construction, the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott), put off completion by another year.According to corporate communications manager at Udecott Roxanne Stapleton-Whyms, the facility will be completed by April 2015, and ready for use by October that year.Stapleton-Whyms said via e-mail that between April and October, Udecott would be commissioning of all the medical equipment and systems required for the centre to be opened and see patients.
Back in June 2012, Khan announced the centre would cost $663 million, after an estimated 18 months of construction.When asked about the budget, Khan said nothing had changed or caused the project to be delayed, and so it was still within the original budget.Khan said the chosen site, next to the veterinary school at Mt Hope, was in the process of being cleaned and the building was being "mobilised."Elaborating on what was happening at the worksite at present, Stapleton-Whyms said the contractor was "currently conducting a condition survey on the structural integrity of the previous works, identifying if there are any defects and proposing methods for remedying same."She explained that a "large portion of the foundation and floor slab was constructed" before Udecott came on board, which was why a condition survey was a "necessary precursor to the full-scale construction and forms part of the project schedule."
She said the survey and the remedying of any defects were scheduled to be handled over the next two months. "The condition of the foundation is being evaluated and the purpose of this is to determine whether it has deteriorated. Tests conducted in 2012 indicated that it was in a good condition at that time."She said this survey process was a part of the overall project schedule, and was a precursor to the full-scale construction."The contractual start date is October 1, 2013."Last year, Khan said Cabinet gave approval for work on the centre, which formed part of Government's overall plan to deal with non-chronic communicable disease, which is a growing epidemic.When asked about the urgency for the facility to be up and running, T&T Cancer Society's chairman emeritus Dr George Laquis said a centre was not enough, and the government needed a more holistic approach to deal with cancer."A piecemeal approach to cancer will result in nothing more than expensive failure," he said via e-mail yesterday.
He said the Government preferred to focus on building grand buildings, rather than promoting public education on lifestyle risk factors. "The approach then must be holistic, emphasising prevention, prevention and prevention. But this is not politically as glamorous as a building to treat cancer."In addition to education, Laquis said T&T needed a national oncology programme, not just a centre, to include the availability, easy accessibility and affordability of early detection services and periodic screening, treatment which encompassed medical, surgical and radiation therapy, as well as sociological, psychological and financial support of the patients and their families."Unfortunately, the authorities do not always appreciate the importance of holism and
prefer to focus on the politically sexy, medically-inappropriate approaches, to the detriment of the medical and financial health of the people they are paid to serve," Laquis said.