The Indian High Commissioner to Guyana has indicated that the idea of Guyana getting a Specialty Hospital to provide top class medical care to citizens and foreigners alike is still on the cards.
In 2017, the former Administration, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), moved to scrap the Specialty Hospital project inspite of pleadings from the then Opposition Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C).
“So, the idea of a specialty hospital is still there so we are to see whether it will be a line of credit or a private participation. So, these are the things which we are working with the Ministry of Health at this time,” High Commissioner Dr KJ Srinivasa told Inews on Friday.
The US$18 million project, which was being funded by the India Export/Import (EXIM) Bank via a line of credit (LOC), was dropped in 2016 after the contracted company, Fedders Lloyd Corporation Limited – which was handpicked by the coalition Administration – was blacklisted by the World Bank until 2020 over fraud and corrupt practices.
The Guyanese Government subsequently announced that the project was “dead” in May of 2017 by then Finance Minister, Winston Jordan.
The Indian diplomat said that the line of credit was initially for the construction of the specialty hospital but after the APNU/AFC scrapped the project, the funds were diverted to upgrading three regional facilities in Regions Two, Three and Seven.
“We were ready with that and when the new Government came in, they also agreed with that proposal and they said let’s not go back to the drawing board let’s finish with this and if we still need a specialty hospital we will start working on the proposal. We want to finish these three hospitals. Parallelly, we are also working on various possibilities for the specialty hospital,” he related.
The special hospital project started under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Administration (PPP/C) and back in 2012, the contract was awarded to India-based company, Surendra Engineering Corporation Limited. However, citing instances of alleged fraud and delays, the Donald Ramotar Administration in 2014 announced that it had terminated the contract with the India-based company and subsequently filed a lawsuit against it for failing to honour its obligations.
While in the Opposition, both the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), before they collated, were against the project and upon their assumption to office in 2015 following their victory at the General and Regional Elections, they decided to scrap the project, which had already expended some US$4 million on preliminary works.
The coalition Government then approached India to divert the remaining $13.8 million towards improving the country’s primary healthcare service by upgrading three public hospitals across the country.
The PPP/C regime, at the time of conception, was hoping that the specialty hospital would be a catalyst in creating “health tourism” here in Guyana by pulling foreigners and overseas-based Guyanese to Guyana.
The Indian diplomat told Inews that such a facility is needed in Guyana because it not only provides specialised care to patients but also increases the possibility of the country becoming a hub for medical tourism.
