The Cabinet has made a decision that the Cancer Centre on the Queen Elizabeth
Highway will reopen shortly to provide critical care to many cancer patients in the
country.
The first step in this direction came in December when the parliament of Antigua
and Barbuda acquired the property under the terms of ‘eminent domain’.
This comes as the government and the majority shareholder in the company –
Bahamian, Dr. Conville Browne, have been unable to reach a compromise on the
value of the property.
Evaluators engaged by the government came to the conclusion that the centre was
worth approximately EC$6-9 million dollars; the majority shareholder demanded
EC$40 million dollars. Despite several entreaties, he had refused to budge from
his demands.
“By way of eminent domain, the parliament of Antigua and Barbuda acquired and
took control of it in early December 2023. A refurbished Cancer Centre provided
with new and improved machines will be operational within the first quarter of
2024; such that, those cancer patients who now travel abroad for radiation and
other therapies will not be so inconvenienced,” government sources have indicated.
Since the closure of the centre in the first half of 2023, the government has been
saddled with a huge bill of flying cancer patients overseas in order for them to
receive chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.
Over time, these payments for overseas travel and care have mounted to significant
proportions.
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