Resources allocated for Vale Royal rehabilitation
DECLARING THAT the Government will not allow Vale Royal – the official residence of the prime minister - to “fall apart”, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has committed to allocating the resources needed for its rehabilitation.
The 300-year-old building has been in a state of deterioration, with a recent video that went viral on social media highlighting its disrepair.
Clarke made the pledge during yesterday’s sitting of Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee, after committee member Lisa Hanna pointed out that there was no allocation in the 2024-2025 Budget for its renovation.
A sum of $57 million has been earmarked for the maintenance cost of Vale Royal, Jamaica House, and the Executive Office in the 2024-2025 Budget.
Noting that the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), which has been entrusted with its rehabilitation, has not been given an increase in budget, Hanna also questioned whether the agency would be given a special grant to do so.
USE OF FUNDS
Robert Morgan, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for information, noted that the funds in the Budget will be used for security and maintenance purposes, and emphasised that the renovation of Vale Royal would require a “significant financial infusion to fix”.
“There has been some work that has been done to reduce the speed of the deterioration until the rehabilitation can take place. I am aware that, on several occasions, workmen have gone there to stop things from disintegrating,” he said.
He however acknowledged that that was not enough, and contended that a “proper solution is a proper full rehabilitation of the property”.
Morgan shared that the JNHT is currently in the process of crafting a renovation plan for Vale Royal but, when quizzed by committee member and Opposition Spokesman on Finance Julian Robinson, could not provide a timeline for when these plans will be shared.
Robinson, who is also member of parliament for St Andrew South Eastern, the constituency in which Vale Royal is located, enquired about the status of the assets such as paintings and furniture in the building, with Morgan assuring him that they were “very secure”.
“The façade is what has deteriorated. It is not the internal aspects of the building. A contractor has gone in recently to do some shoring up works. There are people at the building, employees of the Office of the Prime Minister who do general maintenance of the internals of the building,” he said.
He noted, too, that some of the paintings sensitive to moisture and other exposure have been sent to the National Gallery.
“A lot of the furniture is still there. They are safe. A lot of the utensils are also there. They are safe,” he said, adding that there are concrete facilities at the back of the building.
Morgan, in the meantime, stated that public consultation will also be sought i n the renovation process.
“We could never, as a government, seek to do the rehabilitation of such an important landmark without the contribution of the persons who live in the community and other interested parties from across the island,” he said.