The newly-appointed Minister of Environment and National Beautification, Trevor Prescod, is unsure when the Sanitation Service Authority’s (SSA) modern five-storied headquarters at Vaucluse, St Thomas, will open.
Prescod, who was speaking to the media at the launch of a solid waste website at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Wednesday, said the building was not in a condition to house staff as yet.
“I was not present but my permanent secretary and other senior members of staff recently visited. There are some little challenges that we have there; it is partially completed but there are minor things we have to do,” he said.
“We are not going to take any chances because we have to set an example . . . so we have to make sure the environment is conducive in respect to the mandate we have as a ministry.”
Prescod said he could not give a timeline as to when the issues would be resolved but added they would be addressed expeditiously.
In January 2014, then Minister of Environment and Drainage Dr Denis Lowe announced construction of the estimated $28.7 million facility had commenced.
The building is expected to house the SSA’s administration, human resources, engineering, finance, information technology, security, landfill operations, the northern depot collections, and green technology departments. (SB)
