New deadline set for completion of the work on the Nurses Hostel building

A sewage system established close to 50 years ago has caused the delay in work to repair the former Nurses Hostel building on Queen Elizabeth Highway, Health Minister Molwyn Joseph has said.
The hostel building will be transformed into a residential area to provide a more comfortable space for Barbudan families who are still staying in shelters at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds and the National Technical Training and Vocational Centre (NTTC) on Nugent Avenue.
Joseph said contractors working on the building discovered that the sewage system was in a state of disrepair and completely blocked.
“The contractor had to design a completely new sewage system, and that has delayed … the project somewhat. But we are optimistic that hopefully, within the next three weeks it will be ready,”  Minister Joseph said.
Immediately following the passage of Hurricane Irma in September and its devastating impact on Barbuda, residents on the sister island were evacuated to Antigua and placed in shelters.
The health minister said then, the temporary locations did not afford the Barbudan residents much privacy, and they would have been relocated to a more comfortable setting.
Repair work is also ongoing at the former Barrymore Hotel on Fort Road for a similar purpose.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)