PM Kamla to dedicate lands for UWI South campus

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will on Thursday dedicate lands for the south camus of the University of The West Indies.

The campus will be built on 100 acres of lands in Debe that were used formerly for sugar cane cultivation.

Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley has criticised the plan to build the campus in Debe, saying that it is no a suitable location. He has also said the government is rushing into the project without adequate consultation with the UWI authorities.

However UWI officials have told JYOTI that planning for a south campus has been taking place for several years and the research has shown that there is a need and a high demand for extending the educational facilities into the south.

In a media release, Principal of the St Augustine campus of the UWI Professor Clement Sankat said, "This development is one I have envisioned since becoming Principal in 2008.”

He added, “This Campus expansion into Penal/Debe has been supported by the University’s Committees at recent meetings in Mona." 

He added, "The first phase of development will include the flagship Faculty of Law, as well as a multi-faculty building that will be fully equipped for multi-mode learning. There are also plans to establish a student dormitory, a student union building and other sporting and recreational facilities.”

Sankat said the campus extension comes "after much investigation and calls from external and internal stakeholders. 

"In 2007, the St. Augustine Planning Task Force submitted a report that included a compilation of data which showed that 66.8% of stakeholders believed that The University of the West Indies should establish a Campus in South Trinidad."

In October 2010, the Cabinet agreed to the allocation of a 100-acre parcel of State land on the outskirts of San Fernando and at the entrance to Penal/Debe to help broaden access to tertiary level education in south Trinidad.

The development of the South Campus will be funded under the Ministry of Science Technology and Tertiary Education and the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

The dedication comes on a symbolic day. Exactly one year ago on February 24, 2010, Persad-Bissessar became the offical leader of the opposition, following her election a month before - on January 24 - as leader of the opposition United National Congress (UNC).

She subequently invited other parties to join in a common cause, created the People's Partnership, and led the coalition to a landslide victory against the Manning PNM on May 24, 2010.