Charity incinerator to be rehabilitated – Minister Dharamlall

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Hon. Nigel Dharamlall has said the Government will allocate funds to rehabilitate the incinerator in Charity to properly dispose medical waste in Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region Two).

The Minister made this disclosure during a recent outreach in the Region to oversee ongoing projects and other works.

Speaking with DPI, he said the previous administration spent over $10 million to establish two incinerators to boost the Region’s healthcare system. One was built at the Oscar Joseph Hospital at Charity and the other at the Suddie Public Hospital. The incinerators have been inoperable since their completion.

“It is of no use since it was constructed and this is the kind of problem we have in our health sector in the last five years. Nothing was done substantially to alleviate the situation of our patients … an incinerator is quite important in the disposal of medical waste,” Minister Dharamlall said.

The Minister promised residents that the situation would be remedied to safeguard the public’s health.

In response, Regional Health Officer Dr. Ranjeev Singh thanked the Minister for his commitment to addressing the matter as the situation has been quite worrisome for the Region.

“They built two for the same amount but none were operable so we have to spend a lot of money again to have them running so we can dispose of our infectious waste properly so it would not cause any hazard to residents living in this community,” he said. Dr. Singh said the Regional Administration hopes to assist the Ministry in this endeavour.