Pres. Granger delivers modern ambulance to Port Kaituma
― govt outreach hosted in Reg. 1
DPI, Guyana, Friday, September 20, 2019
Residents of Port Kaituma and surrounding communities in Region 1 will benefit from better access to health care, following the delivery of a modern ambulance equipped with all amenities to the Barima Waini community.
His Excellency, President David Granger handed over the ambulance to the residents. He also presented a cheque to the community of Sebai to procure a boat and engine for their health centre.
The ambulance was handed over to the Port Kaituma Community Hospital during a ‘Government comes to you’ outreach at the Fitzburg Community Ground.
It was donated by International Imports and Supply Limited as part of their corporate social responsibility and will allow for quicker response to medical and trauma-related emergencies.
At the commissioning ceremony, the Head of State, who was accompanied by Prime Minister, Hon. Moses Nagamootoo, spoke of the importance of having a healthy nation.
“We have to protect our citizens against filaria, against dengue, against chikungunya, against measles. We have to have a public plan which ensures that our citizens are safe from communicable diseases and also safe from non-communicable diseases,” he said.
The president cited the tireless efforts of the Ministry of Public Health led by the Hon. Volda Lawrence to improve health care delivery in the Matarkai sub-District and the entire Barim-Waini region. As a result of these efforts, the Port Kaituma community now boasts a modern hospital complex that is equipped with two operating theatres and facilities for infectious diseases, male and female wards and maternity and psychiatric wards and a moratory.
“Public Health is very important to all of us. We will continue to develop the public health services in this vast region. But I want you to help by ensuring that your neighbourhoods are clean and sanitary, that solid waste is disposed of in a sanitary manner and does not go into the rivers and thrown on the roadside. Every citizen in the Matarkai sub-district have a role to play,” the Head of State said.
The president also spoke of the ‘Decade of Development’ that will be unveiled in 2020 with a major emphasis on education. Education, he emphasised, is the gateway to equality and therefore, every child will have access to free education from nursery to university. ‘It is your right,’ he underscored.
President Granger reminded those gathered that it was the Coalition Government that restored local democracy. He noted too that four new towns were established; Mabaruma, Bartica, Mahdia and Lethem – allowing residents to have access to public services in their respective regions.
Also attending the outreach were Minister of Public Health, Hon. Volda Lawrence, Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Hon. Sydney Allicock, Minister of State, Hon. Dawn Hastings-Williams, Minister of Social Protection, Hon. Amna Ally, Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Hon. Valerie Garrido-Lowe, Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Hon. Annette Ferguson and Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Hon, Keith Scott.