PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government and the University of the West Indies (UWI) appear to be on a collision course regarding the functions of the university’s South Campus in Debe, a town in South Trinidad.
Earlier this week, the UWI, in a lengthy statement, said that classes would start at the campus in August and that it “will be the home of the newly launched Global School of Medicine (GSM) leveraging the world-ranked reputation of the UWI and especially the UWI’s Faculty of Medicine (FMS), to serve primarily international students pursuing the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program.”
Furthermore, UWI stated that, despite minimal financial resources, it has prioritized and proceeded with critical repair work and security enhancements at the Debe campus to prepare the facility for its phased reopening, scheduled to begin in August.
It stated that key restoration to the main buildings, including the academic building, the students’ union, auditorium/moot court, health facility, cafeteria, and gymnasium, has already been completed to a high standard and is ready for occupation.
Furniture and computer equipment have already been fitted in the academic spaces and the students’ union.
The UWI acknowledged that the Debe campus had been underutilized for several years, experiencing natural deterioration in certain areas. However, the facility, which was constructed with substantial government investment and completed for use in 2019, was utilized by the last administration as a step-down medical facility during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
However, after the campus was returned to the UWI in May 2022, assessments were conducted, and urgent restoration was deemed necessary.
The Debe campus was initially intended to house the new Faculty of Law, which was to be the flagship faculty at the campus.
However, in 2017, staff and students from the Faculty of Law protested the move to Debe, and in 2018, the then UWI administration decided not to relocate the Faculty of Law to the Debe campus.
Instead, UWI decided that a newly established self-financing and sustainable Global School of Medicine (GSM) would be the flagship of the campus. The decision to develop the GSM at this location and to designate it as a medical education hub was a strategic move, years in the making, following multiple rounds of internal planning and consultation.
This decision was formally approved by the University Council, the highest governing body of the regional UWI system, which is charged with financial and operational oversight, in 2021 and was designated a core strategic objective of the campus.
Since then, UWI has made several pronouncements regarding this GSM, the most recent being those by Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles at the University Council meeting earlier this month.
Aligned with UWI’s Triple A strategy (Access, Alignment, Agility), the GSM will serve primarily international students and will allow the university to meet the growing demand for medical education.
The statement added that, notably, this will benefit the country’s economy and society through increased access to education, medical services, international visibility, and foreign exchange earnings.
Earlier this week, Energy and Energy Industries Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal toured the campus, which falls within his constituency, and expressed disappointment over its state of disrepair.
He called for a full investigation into the maintenance and use of the campus, which he said cost taxpayers over $600 million (One TT dollar = 0.16 cents) and remains unoccupied mainly and in a state of disrepair.
UWI Principal Professor Rose-Marie Antoine, who has denied the campus is in ruins, said she was “pleased to receive a letter from the Ministry of Tertiary Education…inviting us to a meeting to discuss the South Campus completion and programs for there, including the Global School of Medicine. We are pleased that the Government is willing to invest in it”.
She told the Trinidad Guardian newspaper that “the Global Medical School is neither new nor newly announced. That decision was made and announced in 2019. The media has covered this strategic objective many times, most recently in March during the Annual Council when both myself and Vice-Chancellor (Hilary) Beckles spoke extensively about the progress”.
However, speaking at a post-Cabinet news conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar stated that the UWI administration should not interfere with plans to establish a law school on the campus.
“That campus will house what the Government says it will house. The administration will have no say in that. They cannot dictate to us what they want to put there,” she said, criticizing the plans for the medical school.
“I don’t know where they come up with this thing… Don’t we have the Couva hospital? That’s what that was for. We did the San Fernando Teaching Hospital. So, what are you coming to now with some global medicine? Where did you get that from?”
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar stated that the August opening date, as indicated by the UWI, will not be observed.
“It will not happen in August. I don’t know who came up with the idea that it would be opened in August. Because when the ministers visited the place, it was a total horror story,” she said, adding that she would not allow UWI to “sabotage and take over” the Government’s plans for the campus.
Persad Bissessar said that while the initial plans were for a law campus, the Government had some additional ideas on how to use the facility.
“We were clear then, and we are clearer now, and 10 years later, we can do so much more. Yes, we said a law faculty (and) I talked about doing forensics and law enforcement training (but) now with AI (artificial intelligence) and technology in the world, those are other areas we can explore for training for our children.”
She has warned the university that there would be consequences if they failed to support the Government’s vision for the campus.
“I am warning UWI administration do not test me. If we have to do it, I will take that campus back and put it under government control to make sure we complete it and get the job done,” she said, accusing the UWI’s administrators and the previous Government of not utilizing the facility in the years since its completion.
“I think the most significant betrayal with this whole thing was by the administrators and those in charge at UWI…. You have done nothing for ten years, so don’t come and cry now about what you can and cannot do.
“And you didn’t even tell us why you didn’t do it. So don’t come and put things in the papers like you running it,” she said, calling on the UWI administrators to “step aside” and let the Government get on with the business of opening the campus.
Professor Antoine told the Trinidad Guardian newspaper that the campus belongs to the University of the West Indies (UWI).
“We’ve done significant repairs over the last year and a half. We’ve been working systematically on it, as we’ve reported at council meetings. Most of the main buildings are ready for occupation.
“ROYTEC is already moving in. As Minister Moonilal said, the Moot Court is beautiful—comparable to the ICJ. It’s a huge campus, and we couldn’t refurbish everything at once due to a lack of funds. Now that we have a government that’s interested in the campus, which was gifted to us, we are optimistic that much more can be done.”.
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