Member of Parliament for Central Kingstown, St Clair Leacock is happy that a healthcare facility will be located in the constituency.

Leacock made several appeals in Parliament over the years for a health centre to be constructed in Central Kingstown and became even more passionate after the government announced plans to build an acute referral hospital at Arnos Vale, and shift most of the services away from the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

Speaking on the New Democratic Party’s New Times radio programme last Wednesday, Leacock said that he is “more than happy to see” that money has been allocated in the 2024 budget for the construction of a health care facility in Central Kingstown.

He said the proposed location for the facility is an area near to the Lodge Village Government School and referred to the more than EC$400,000 in this year’s budget for that specific purpose.

“The first time you know that you are in business with government is when it gets into this big book called the Budget,” the Central Kingstown MP said on Wednesday.

Now that he is satisfied a health care facility will soon be constructed in Central Kingstown Leacock said his job now “is to see that government walks the talk and that we are able to get that health centre going.”

In his 2024 Budget presentation on January 8, Minister of Finance, Camillo Gonsalves said the sum of $9 million is allocated this year for constructing, expanding and refurbishing health care facilities.

The Minister listed Central Kingstown, along with Bequia, Biabou, Diamonds among the areas where such work will take place. The population of Central Kingstown is currently served by the Kingstown Clinic which is on the same compound as the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital where they also go to get medical care.