Opposition presses Govt on Rooke acquisition, but no financing details ‘until ink is dry’ 

The Gibraltar Government said it was not yet ready to disclose the financial details of its planned acquisition of the Rooke elderly care facility, as the Opposition pressed for information on the cost to taxpayers. 

Responding to Opposition questions in Parliament, the Minister for Health, Care and Business, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, said the purchase price and financing arrangements remained under negotiation and would be published once agreements were finalised, before residents moved in. 

The questions followed an announcement early September that the GHA would purchase the Rooke modular building and turn it into a publicly-run elderly residential and nursing care facility, with residents from Mount Alvernia, as well as long-stay patients at St Bernard’s Hospital and those in Cochrane Ward, expected to move there before the end of the year.  

The purchase price was not disclosed at the time because financing arrangements with a commercial bank in Gibraltar were still being finalised, although Mrs Arias-Vasquez said the construction cost had previously been put at around £38m. 

She said at the time that the purchase cost and finance arrangements would be made later in September. 

But on Friday, Mrs Arias-Vasquez said she was unable at this stage to provide the amount to be borrowed, the lender, interest rate, repayment period or total borrowing cost, nor a breakdown of acquisition, fit-out and financing costs. 

“Until the ink is dry on the paper and all the details are negotiated, I will not be in a position to do so,” she said.  

“However, my commitment remains to disclose all these details as soon as they are available.” 

GSD MP Roy Clinton said it “beggars belief” that the Government could not tell Parliament the cost of what it had announced at the beginning of September. 

“Because at the end of the day - and we know it’s really the left arm to the right arm - because it’s the Savings Bank at the end of the day that’s financing it through a whole string of entities that ends up in Community Initiatives, which is controlled by partners of her firm,” he said. 

“So can the minister at least give us a date as to when the purchase agreement will be completed and when she can come to the House and make a ministerial statement?” 

Mrs Arias-Vasquez said the announcement of the GHA purchase was made in September to address “rumours” and Opposition questions and clarify concerns among staff and residents. 

“The detail has not been finalised,” she replied.  

“The GHA has not taken over the facility yet.”  

Questioned by Opposition Leader Keith Azopardi, she confirmed the land cost had been agreed but added it would only be disclosed once all the remaining finer detail was finalised. 

She accused the Opposition of “catastrophising”, drawing a rebuke from GSD MP Damon Bossino who said his fellow GSD MPs were simply asking legitimate and basic questions about a project that would impact not just users of the facility but their families too. 

Mrs Arias-Vasquez accused Mr Bossino of acting as a “quasi leader” and making the emotive intervention “for his social media feed”. 

Mrs Arias-Vasquez said the GHA had not yet taken over the Rooke facility, though the GHA had worked closely with professionals and contractors involved in the project on its design, construction and commissioning. 

The exchanges prompted by questions from GSD MPs Atrish Sanchez and Joelle Ladislaus also covered building checks, staffing, residents’ facilities and the future of Mount Alvernia, which is owned by the John Mackintosh Trust and leased by the Government. 

Mrs Arias-Vasquez confirmed the GHA had not commissioned independent technical or structural surveys and currently had no plans to do so, relying on relevant certificates and work with the professionals involved in construction. 

“How does she know that the building doesn’t have any defects which the taxpayer may have to pick up later on?” Mr Clinton asked. 

Mrs Arias-Vasquez said financing institutions could require structural surveys as part of their valuations and that defects identified before acquisition would be rectified by the developer.  

She said several had already been resolved, while outstanding items included a kitchen storeroom ceiling, a lift check and missing lift buttons. 

Only external boundary wall works were currently anticipated, with no significant additional costs identified, Parliament was told. 

Responding to Mrs Sanchez, the minister said activity coordinators had not been consulted during the design of the building but would be consulted before opening.  

Mrs Sanchez also raised concerns about space for worship, terrace access, hairdressing facilities and a tuck shop. 

The minister confirmed discussions were underway on accommodating a chapel or multi-faith room. 

Terrace access would depend on individual clinical assessments, she added, confirming terrace walls exceeded building regulations. 

Cleaning would be provided by GHA employees, with further vacancies to be released, Parliament was also told, while security would initially follow Mount Alvernia’s arrangements, currently outsourced to OSG, pending a wider review. 

Mrs Arias-Vasquez said all Mount Alvernia residents and families had expressed a wish to move.  

She said too that no discussions had yet taken place with the John Mackintosh Trust trustees about the Mount Alvernia’s future.