Delayed reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s Vieques hospital to start next month

The delayed reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s Vieques hospital will start in October, according to the mayor of Vieques municipality. 

“We expect the reconstruction to start in the second or third week of next month. Right now they are working on moving equipment and coordinating transportation,” said mayor José Corcino in an interview with daily El Nuevo Día.

The first stage of the US$85.6mn reconstruction could be completed around the middle of next year, and the entire project will be ready in 2025, Corcino said.

He also said that the health department is seeking a private firm to operate the hospital.

DELAYS

The project’s first stage has been delayed multiple times due to the complexity of the works and bureaucracy involved in receiving funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), health minister Carlos Mellado said in August last year. FEMA will provide US$39.6mn of the total, while the remainder will come from the Puerto Rican government. 

In December last year it was announced that the project would kick off in January, but the contract to rebuild the hospital – awarded to Caribe Tecno CRL – ended up being signed in February. 

The old Vieques hospital (pictured) was closed in 2017 due to structural damage caused by Hurricane Maria, and was demolished in May last year.

Caribe Tecno CRL has built Puerto Rico’s conventions center and its fourth cruise terminal, both in San Juan, among other projects.

Photo credit: AFP