Paruima to get resident doctor, $14M doctors’ quarters completed

Residents in Paruima Village, Region Seven, will no longer have to travel long hours to Kamarang Village or Georgetown to seek medical services, following the construction of a doctors’ quarters.

Member of Parliament, Lee Williams spoke with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Wednesday, where he revealed that final touches are being done to the building.

“The government allocated $14 million for a doctor’s quarter in Paruima […] the project commenced in May and now it is completed at this point in time,” he said.
From budget 2022, $121 million was earmarked for the provision of health facilities and living quarters for doctors to be stationed in the hinterland communities, and Paruima was identified.

MP Williams who is also from the village, explained that there was never a doctor stationed there.

Williams noted, “It will mean a lot to the village especially to the residents of Paruima because the travelling distance from Paruima to the nearest health centre, Kamarang, it takes about 8 hours by boat and yeah, we do have airstrip but its not guaranteed that the aircraft would come at any time. So, the doctor’s quarter will really cut down on the cost not only travelling and also travelling to Kamarang hospital.”

Paruima is a small village situated in Region Seven, Upper Mazaruni with a population of 800.

The construction of doctors’ quarters and health facilities is also ongoing in Issano and Kaikan, communities also located in Upper Mazaruni. These interventions all tie in to the government’s overall effort to enhance primary health services across Guyana.