Chinese president at Couva children’s hospital site

PRESIDENT of China Xi Jinping will get a first hand view this afternoon at the proposed site of the Couva Children’s Hospital which is being funded by the China Exim Bank under a government to government arrangement with this country.

It will be one of the many stops by the president during his official State visit to this island which ends tomorrow.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in March, last year, turned the sod for the start of the construction of US$150 million hospital located off the Solomon Hochoy Highway South in Preysal. Persad-Bissessar had noted that the initiative to construct the medical institution, which would also be a multi-medical training centre, had been achieved through the guidance and technical expertise of the Chinese government.

In November last year, work started on the creation of access roads leading to the proposed site of the hospital. The first phase of the project is being done by local contractors. The other contractors for the project are from Shanghai Construction Company. The hospital, which includes a teaching facility and Burns Unit, is expected to be completed by 2015. The development will also include an adult hospital with full in-patient services.

Newsday