Less than nine months before it is meant to open its doors, the Barts Medical School campus in Gozo is still a construction site, amid evident signs that the completion deadline will once again be missed.

Times of Malta yesterday visited the site next to the Gozo General Hospital, and there was no visible activity in the short period the main gate of the site was open.

The project is part of the 30-year concession agreement granted to Vitals Global Healthcare which the latter transferred to Steward Health Care of the US. The agreement bound Vitals to build the campus.

The site photographed yesterday morning, with little activity going on.

In 2015, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced that the new campus would be up and running by September 2016. However, work fell behind schedule, to the point that completion was postponed to the third quarter of this year. Students are using makeshift facilities at the Gozo Sixth Form, while Gozo Hospital employees are carrying out their duties from makeshift offices.

In March last year, VGH issued a statement marking the start of work, saying “weekly updates regarding work are being posted on the company website and sent out to all staff members and stakeholder”. This did not happen.

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For some reason, the momentum of work was once again lost, and by May the project ground to a halt. In June the Health Ministry said the delay had been caused by the discovery of archaeological findings. However, very little progress has been achieved since then.

Designs on website, but no completion date

Meanwhile, the designs of the campus are still being showcased on the Barts website as part of its promotional campaign for its Malta courses.

However, no completion date is given.

In reply to questions, a Health Ministry spokeswoman said works at the new campus had at one point been delayed due to archaeological findings of Roman trenches; works recommenced following guidance from the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage.

The spokeswoman added that in talks that have already taken place between all interested parties, Steward Health Care agreed that they were committed to accelerating works on the Barts medical campus at Gozo General Hospital.