RADHICA DE SILVA
Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Southerners are urging the University of the West Indies (UWI) to refurbish and fully activate the Debe campus—not only for the Global School of Medicine but also to house the Faculties of Law and Agriculture for local students.
They spoke just hours before former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar issued a stern warning to university officials for failing to open the campus after ten years. She also threatened to reclaim the 100-acre site, which was gifted to UWI to serve as a law campus, in order to ensure it was used for its intended purpose as a law campus.
Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, community activist Destar Dythe said for decades, southerners have been making the arduous trek to St Augustine to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and they have been hoping for the activation of the facility.
“We have been waiting a long time for this campus to open, and we are happy to hear the campus in Debe is finally opening—but it should be for local students as well because it is costly to study in St Augustine,” she said.
However, she questioned whether the university had the funds to retrofit the campus to accommodate medicine.
“We know millions have been spent to build this law campus, and we are hoping it will open in August—not just for medicine, but for law as well,” she said.
She said residents of Diamond Village were also disappointed by the state of disrepair at the campus.
“We have always questioned why the campus was allowed to fall into this state. It’s bush all around, and now we are hearing that the campus has rusting, corrosion, sewer problems, and multiple water leaks,” she said.
Meanwhile, soca/reggae artist Adanna Paul, who lives at Papourie Road, said corporate T&T should help the university open the campus if funds are low.
“We have a lot of people looking for work and waiting for this campus to open. The university should try to open the campus as soon as possible. And if they do not have the money, hold fundraisers,” Paul said.
Another activist, Sonnylal Kanhai, also welcomed the proposed August opening.
“We need educational facilities that would help our children. Ten years was too long for that campus to stay closed—that’s a whole generation. We need to stop the politicking and do what is best for the communities,” he said.
Meanwhile, UWI Principal Professor Rose-Marie Antoine said she is arranging a media walkthrough of the campus amid growing public interest and media inquiries into the institution’s plans to begin operations there by August 2025.
Originally intended as the new home for the Faculty of Law, the south campus was repurposed after protests from staff and students in 2017. However, the faculty never made the move and by 2018, the university’s administration decided instead to establish a self-financing Global School of Medicine, which was approved by the UWI University Council in 2021 as the new flagship of the Penal-Debe site.
The GSM will cater primarily to international students and is expected to bring “economic and social benefit through increased access to education, medical services, international visibility and foreign exchange earnings,” UWI stated in a release yesterday.
The university confirmed that key buildings at the campus—including the academic building, student union, auditorium, health facility, cafeteria, and gymnasium—have been restored to a high standard and are ready for use. However, additional structures such as the faculty building and recreational spaces will undergo phased repairs as funding becomes available.
The statement also revealed that the campus, although completed in 2019, remained mostly underutilised until it was temporarily handed over to the state during the COVID-19 pandemic to function as a step-down facility. When it was returned to UWI in May 2022, it was found to be in a state of disrepair.
“Despite its limited financial resources, the UWI prioritised and proceeded with critical repair works and security enhancements to prepare the facility in anticipation of its phased reopening,” the university said.
UWI stressed that financial support from the Government remains critical, noting it has submitted detailed requests and proposals for additional funding over the years. While the university has managed to cut operational costs by TT$300 million in recent years, it continues to face challenges in maintaining and modernising infrastructure across all campuses, including St Augustine.
Alongside the medical programme, UWI intends to offer blended-format courses from the Faculties of Science and Technology, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, and the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the South Campus. It will also house the UWI ROYTEC programme.
