Devon Evans, Gleaner Writer
OCHO RIOS, St. Ann
Chairman of the North Eastern Regional Health Authority, Dr. Michael Whittingham, is deeply concern about what he described as the obvious lack of proper safety measures in place for the construction site of the Bahia Principe Hotel at Pear Tree Bottom, in St. Ann.
As a result, Dr. Whittingham is calling on those in authority to immediately put in place safety and monitoring mechanisms, to minimise accidents and injuries to workers.
Central government's role
He said that if the St. Ann Parish Council does not have the capacity to properly monitor the project, then central government must step in and make it their responsibility to do so.
Dr. Whittingham noted that over the past eight months, the St. Ann's Bay Hospital has been receiving an uncomfortably high number of injuries from the construction site and said it is full time something be done to provide a safer environ-ment for the workers.
He said that even if it warrants a brief closure of the site, something needs to be done speedily. "We cannot have our people working under these conditions for any continued period of time. There needs to be a clear system where the work is been checked regularly and properly monitored," he added.
Medical response team
Dr. Whittingham is recommending that a medical response team be present on the site daily or located within close proximity; that all the employees undergo some form of first-aid training as well as training in basic safety measures.
Dr. Whittingham, who is also the People's National Party (PNP) caretaker for North West St. Ann, said he was 100 per cent in support of the project, which has been providing much-needed employment for people in the area. He said, however, that the economic benefits must not come by way of putting the workers at great risk of losing their lives.
Last Wednesday, one employee was killed and 15 others injured, after sections of the building under construction collapsed while workmen were casting a concrete decking. The dead employee has been identified as 40-year-old mason, Linval Mitchell, of Monk Street in Spanish Town, St. Catherine. Meanwhile, two other employees remain in hospital in serious but stable condition.
