Ottley tells Brug hospital issue may be inherited, but it is now his responsibility

GREAT BAY--Member of Parliament Omar Ottley on Tuesday told Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Richinel Brug that while he may have inherited the long-running problems surrounding the new St. Maarten General Hospital project, it is now his responsibility to confront them directly, manage them firmly, and ensure that St. Maarten is not taken deeper into delay, uncertainty, and added expense.

At the same time, Ottley cautioned Brug not to allow himself to be used, misled, or politically exposed while others avoid responsibility for the same issue. He urged the Minister to be firm in his dealings and not allow either the contractor or the political environment around him to leave him carrying the burden while others remain in the background.

Speaking during the public meeting of Parliament on the status of the hospital project, Ottley said the issue before the country is no longer simply what went wrong in the past, but how the present Minister responds now that the matter sits squarely in his hands.

“You may not have created it, but it’s what you’re faced with,” Ottley said, stressing that inherited problems still require present accountability.

Ottley framed his questions as rooted in responsibility rather than blame. He said he was not seeking to fault Brug for the origins of a project that stretches back across multiple administrations, but he warned that once a minister accepts office, the duty to deal with the problem becomes his own.

“Be assertive. Do not let them take you for a ride,” Ottley warned.

Ottley revisited the long and troubled history of the hospital project, tracing it back to 2016 and noting that major disputes and complications emerged even before substantial construction began. He referenced early legal and contractual problems, including the VAMED matter and later complications involving Enzo and Finzil, and said the country has been paying for instability and poor handling from the very beginning.

He said that despite that history, the current government cannot continue pointing backward as though that relieves it of present responsibility. In Ottley’s view, leadership requires confronting what is in front of you, not repeatedly explaining why someone else created it.

Drawing on his own period as Minister of VSA, Ottley said that when he took office in April 2021, he inherited what he described as a deeply problematic situation. According to Ottley, when he entered office, the project was still largely at foundation stage despite the contract dating back years earlier. He said the country was then dealing with confusion surrounding the contractor transition, including problems involving Finzil after the Enzo changeover, and at one stage even basic operational matters such as banking arrangements had not been properly settled.

Ottley said that during his tenure he did not simply accept those conditions. He told Parliament that he imposed stricter oversight by holding meetings with deadlines that had to be met every three months. He also pointed to the Fourth Amendment to the hospital contract, which addressed increased costs and changing conditions, and said that process was subjected to World Bank review and approval to ensure the figures were sound and that no abuse or irregularity took place.

In addition, Ottley said progress did occur while he was Minister. He noted that by the end of his tenure the project had moved beyond the stage he inherited and included major foundational and support works. According to Ottley, that included the foundation itself, seven water tanks, the technical room, and the generator station. He stressed that this should not be overlooked when evaluating the project’s timeline and what was achieved during different administrations.

He also referenced the scale of the foundational works carried out during that period, noting that in August 2022 the project recorded what he described as the largest concrete pour in St. Maarten’s history, totaling 120 trucks. Ottley said this was not an ordinary foundation and underscored that the hospital had to be raised seven meters above the level of the current medical center in order to address flooding concerns.

By highlighting those points, Ottley sought to make clear that while he inherited serious problems, he also took steps to impose order, move the project forward, and secure measurable progress. His message Tuesday was that Brug must now do the same and cannot afford to remain passive while new financial demands and delays continue to emerge.

Referring to reports that the project may now require an additional US $20 million, Ottley said the Minister must be direct and firm with the contractor.

“You have an agreement and I want this done by this time. That is how you deal with them,” Ottley said.

He stressed that public officials, not contractors, are the ones who must answer before Parliament and the public, and for that reason Brug must not allow the country’s position to weaken while others dictate the pace of events.

Ottley also suggested that the hospital issue has become entangled in wider political contradictions, with leaders taking one position at one moment and another when circumstances shift. In that environment, he said, the Minister must be especially careful not to be left carrying the political and public consequences of a drifting project while others shield themselves.

He said he had even attempted to offer support and practical guidance to Brug based on his own experience as Minister, including what he called “low hanging fruits,” but had not received a response at the time. He said his approach was not political, but intended to assist in moving the process along.

Beyond the construction itself, Ottley raised broader issues relating to healthcare policy and execution. He referred to unresolved matters such as insurance reform and other items that could strengthen the system, and questioned how often the Minister meets with Finzil and the St. Maarten Medical Center, what the board’s actual view is of the disputed additional sums, and whether redesigns or cuts are being considered to bridge the financial gap now under discussion.

Turning to the Minister’s recent Colombia trip, Ottley said opportunities for training St. Maarten students in the medical field are worthwhile, but warned that such opportunities must be matched by real legislative follow-through. He pointed in particular to the unresolved BIG legislation, which he said remains essential if St. Maarten is serious about preparing students abroad and later integrating them into the local healthcare system.

He also asked what is being done now to strengthen the current St. Maarten Medical Center while the country waits on the new hospital. In that context, Ottley pointed to improvements made during his own term, including five double rooms, two operational rooms, an MRI room, and an oncology center, and said the public deserves to know what additional practical steps are being taken in the meantime.

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