Sod turned for multi-million-dollar mortuary at New Amsterdam
─ project to be completed by year end
DPI, Guyana, Monday, August 19, 2019
The Ministry of Public Health will be constructing a $70M mortuary in New Amsterdam. This facility will also have a chapel for funeral services, a viewing area for post mortem examinations and an administrative section. It will replace the existing mortuary at the Regional Hospital.
The mortuary will be located in the compound of National Psychiatric Hospital and is the first facility of its kind in the country. The project has been awarded to Andre Vincente Construction Services who has assured that the building will be completed by the end of December; the contract, however, caters for a ten-month project period.
The mortuary is 36 x 84 feet (approximately 3,000 square feet) of floor space. Ministry of Public Health’s Engineer, Naresh Mangar described it as a “state-of-the-art facility and we intend to keep this as the template going forward.”
The construction of this new mortuary follows a visit by Minister of Public Health, Hon. Lawrence to the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital in late 2018. The minister was dissatisfied with the location of the current facility. The staff also raised concerns about the capacity and condition of the building noting that the hospital environs was not the most suitable location.
Minister Lawrence said, “when I looked at where that mortuary is placed and where my staff have to work, it is not conducive and is not a proper working environment, so even as the health ministry tries to provide a service to all the people in this country, the onus is on me also to ensure that I take care of our staff.”
Permanent Secretary for the ministry, Colette Adams and representative of the contracting firm executing the project, Ken Vincente signed the agreement to initiate the commencement of construction.
The ministry’s intervention complements a series of health improvement projects currently being executed by the region.