New UHWI car park promises better security

Having heard several reports of break-ins and two reports of car theft, a security guard at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) believes a newly opened car park will make things safer.

"Believe it or not, the way dem tief here skilled, people come back to dem car and the battery gone. Ask mi how the man dem take it out, I don't know. But tings gwan over here, man. We patrol often, enuh, but sometimes is like the tief dem two steps ahead. Let mi see what happen with this new car park. But mi believe say the car dem na go get tief again, because from what I hear, the car park come with state-of-the-art security features," the guard said.

The guard told THE WEEKEND STAR that despite warnings, stubborn motorists leave the car pass in their vehicles.

"So when a man a make out with dem car, we na go know because the tief gonna show the car pass. I remember one instance where a man rush come visit him father who meet in accident, and when him come back where him park him car, is a van park in the spot. Him really couldn't blame anyone, because him park at a lonely spot weh him never suppose to park," he said.

The car park's ribbon was cut on Wednesday by Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton and other officials, and is the first major construction milestone under the UHWI Redevelopment and Modernisation Project, Phase 1. It is expected to create the necessary space to accommodate the next steps in the project - the construction of the new six-storey hospital building. Tufton, in his keynote speech, said that anyone who thinks that it is just a car park "devalues the importance of it [and] don't understand the vision".

"It is a precursor to the tangible substantial development that is to come. About 2,000 cars pass through these premises every day, and you can't have an ambulance coming in and don't have anywhere to take out the patient. Or, a doctor who works hard and affords a car and don't have anywhere to park," he said, also assuring that the car park will have adequate security, thus addressing the issue of car thefts.