By Elesha George
Government is eyeing the barracks at the former US Air Force Base (PanAm) in Coolidge as an alternative quarantine centre.
The new site is being considered after the owners of Hawksbill Hotel informed the government that they are no longer able to accommodate the state-operated quarantine facility.
Cabinet spokesman, Melford Nicholas, said that the government had always been aware that the hotel would request its property back at some point.
“The management of Hawksbill has always indicated that they would [eventually] want to put their facilities back in the normal tourism pool, and so they want to return to a situation of offering their facilities to tourists. So, we have come to the end of the period where they could have accommodated us,” he explained.
The government is currently housing 12 persons at the Hawksbill Hotel.
The Ministry of Public Works is expected to renovate the facility with standby generators and an improved water supply.
Minister Lennox Weston told Observer his ministry is currently working with the Ministry of Health to ascertain the scope of the work.
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