The University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Five Islands Campus is set to benefit from a $10 million investment to develop a halls of residence.
Interim head of campus, Professor Stafford Griffith, previously told Cabinet that building dormitory rooms on campus was a priority to attract OECS students.
At the time there was an informal agreement to build an initial 100 rooms. Local homeowners were also being encouraged to begin preparing to extend homes to draw in more overseas students.
Minister of Information Melford Nicholas said yesterday, however, that the new plan is to build a housing facility with no less than 200 rooms.
“But I think for the investment we are thinking that perhaps maybe a minimum 200 rooms in the dorms would be a sufficient area to start,” Nicholas said.
He said government anticipated a large student intake as the years progress.
Government hopes the dorms will be ready to welcome OECS students by September, as “it is anticipated that funding will be forthcoming from a friendly state”. But it acknowledged this may take longer to come to fruition.