House Approves Gov’t Guarantee of Loan to UWI

The House of Representatives on Tuesday (March 31), approved a Government guarantee of US$2.75 million, of a loan of US$5.5 million to the University of the West Indies (UWI), to partially finance the construction of a Vice Chancellery building on lands adjacent to the Mona Campus.
According to a Ministry Paper, which was tabled in the Lower House, the Vice Chancellery, comprising approximately 57,000 square feet, will be located on the orchard area south of the Queen’s Way entrance of the campus, adjoining the university’s College Common housing.
The institution has been in discussion with the Caribbean Development Bank for the loan and a technical assistance grant in the amount of US$760,000 to partially finance the project.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who moved the Resolution, stated that the interest of the Vice Chancellery was being compromised by the fact that it was “smothered into the Mona campus.”
He said it was for the purposes of providing the spacial requirements and “to ensure that there is a clear distinction between the responsibilities for Mona and the responsibilities for the regional management for the university that a new Vice Chancellery should be built.”
The Vice Chancellery will include a university archive, which will be designed to provide for fireproofing, temperature control, protection from direct sunlight, facilities for pest control and effective drainage for rain water. Other facilities include a museum for the display of documents and other materials and artifacts, possibly utilising interactive technologies that will tell the story of the UWI.
Currently, most of the units supporting the Vice Chancellor in the management and administration of the university at the regional level are located on the Mona Campus, which has accommodated the Vice Chancellery over the 59 years of the university’s operations.
The growth of the university is at a point however, where increasing, congestion is negatively affecting the productivity of the Vice Chancellery. Further, units of the Vice Chancellery are scattered across the Mona Campus, which inhibits the growth and productivity of the centre, given that units are unable to contract needed staff as there is no physical space to house them.