Chairman of AIC Limited and the National Commercial Bank, Michael Lee Chin, has committed an additional $105 million for the completion of the Hyacinth Chen School of Nursing at the Seventh-day Adventist-owned and operated Northern Caribbean University (NCU).

Of this amount, $35 million will help to subsidise the cost overrun, which includes building materials and labour costs, while the remaining $70 million has been secured for furnishing and equipping the building.

A release from NCU said the nursing school, which is named in honour of Lee Chin's mother, is being built on a 21,000-square foot area of the NCU property, opposite the university's main campus in Mandeville, Manchester. This latest contribution comes after Lee Chin's initial donation of $142 million toward the construction of the state-of-the-art facility.

Commitment

This most recent commitment was made at a special meeting of Lee Chin and NCU President, Dr Herbert Thompson, held to discuss the progress of construction on the nursing school which began in May last year. The nursing school, which will officially open on August 10, will accommodate approximately 800 nursing students; this represents a 100 per cent increase over current NCU enrollment of nursing students.

Lee Chin has indicated that his choice to invest specifically in a nursing school was driven by the world renowned reputation of Jamaican nurses who are celebrated both locally and overseas. He said that, as a prudent investor, he is expecting a good return on this social investment as he has recognised the exportability of Jamaica's nurses, who are able to work abroad and send remittances back to Jamaica.