BERMUDA needs a second opinion on the Government's decision to build a new hospital in the Botanical Gardens, according to United Bermuda Party MP John Barritt

"Matters have reached the point where there needs to be a second opinion," Mr. Barritt, whose Devonshire South Central constituency takes in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and the Botanical Gardens, said. "And that opinion has to focus on what can be done on the current site, which means the entire property owned by the Bermuda Hospitals Board."

The hospital property includes land from the current entrance on Point Finger Road, to Berry Hill Road as well as the parking area on the other side of Berry Hill Road. "People need to be more fully informed what can be done on that site and at what cost," Mr. Barritt said.

"I have always maintained that rebuilding on the current site has to be pursued as the number one priority, and I have become more convinced of this by the public reaction ? indeed the public outcry ? to the proposal to build the new hospital in the Botanical Gardens and its negative implications for the long-term success of sustainable development.

"When it comes to a major investment like this, and I mean major investment not just in terms of financing but in terms of future health care in this country and the environment, a second opinion is warranted."