[www.inewsguyana.com] – The saga over the re-emergence of the Specialty Hospital construction continues with the APNU+AFC government saying that the renegotiation of the deal with India cannot be credited to the People’s Progressive Party.
This is after PPP Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira said that the plans by the new government to proceed with the contract, fully vindicates the PPP of any alleged wrongdoings or corruption.
“The PPP/C has been vindicated in that we have now lost two years thanks to the behavior of the APNU+AFC in the Opposition,” she stated later adding “it was stymied deliberately, obstructed deliberately in the last Parliament and now they come back to the same point that we started with in 2012,” she stated at a press conference on Thursday, November 12.
But the Government in a statement noted that it was the PPP, despite the vehement protestations of the then Combined APNU and AFC opposition, which concluded and forced through a shady deal with Surendra Engineering Company Limited (SECL).
“This deal cost the Guyanese taxpayers over $900 million, which represents the amount that the dubious SECL drew down before disappearing. The renegotiation of the medical facility contract by this Coalition Government, with the Government of India has not vindicated the PPP but rather has been further indicted that reckless regime for signing off a major project with this highly questionable company against whom a high court judgment was given to the tune of $902,192,483,” the government release stated.
Government says that for Teixeira and the PPP to now suggest that they have been vindicated is an “absurdity of no ordinary kind.”
“The credit for this new extended package of the construction of a specialty hospital along with the upgrade of three major medical institutions – Suddie Hospital, Bartica Hospital and the West Demerara Regional Hospital – ought to be given specifically to the Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton and his team and the Coalition Government in general.”
The Government also made a commitment that consistent with its policy, these newly negotiated projects will be executed with the highest level of transparency.
To the confused:
The Specialty Hospital was and is a genuinely beneficial idea. The problem came when the Indian company, Surendra, was paid an advance to start building but failed to do anything and fled with the money.
The PPP wound up suing Surendra, which turned out to be the same company that was paid to build massive drainage pumps to alleviate coastland floods, but which never delivered on the pumps.
What greasy Gail is doing now is obfuscating the facts so gullible folks would think the coalition rejected then now wants the hospital.
The coalition, while in opposition, never objected to the hospital being built; the objections was related to Surendra, which turned out to be a problem also for the PPP.
In late 2011, Ashni Singh took GY$29m from the Contingencies Fund to pay for foundation preparation of the same hospital, but no preparation work was ever done, which means the money was misappropriated. Greasy Gail will never touch that.
I’m saddened by some of the comments like those that seems to oppose what ever the government does. T his government is getting four for one ,Essiquibo,Bernice ,Demerara plus the new hospital yet the negative comments l think it’s a parallel behavior to the Republicans even when Healthcare is offered they oppose ,
mind you ,more of their constituents are without Heathcare
Can’t believe people can be so foolish until now can someone please tell them what is a speciality hospital and it would have been the only one in the Caribbean wake up you dumb assess juj be fair and give credit where it’s due.
if there were in government for 23 years for the said state why will these dumbo go and do the same thing you see where I am going
Chizzy I agree with you and I am confused too.
Our present Gov’t should be less eager to follow deligenty in the foot steps of the previous Gov’t . Invest in fexing the present health institutions .Any patriotic Guyanese can tell that this move (Building a new hospital notwithtnding its singular purpose) is a virtual waste of money and time……Invest in improving ” people skill. ” But the sad truth is that Gov’ts don’t listen ……..This is so heart rending !
I’m quite confused about this hospital. As I understood, the Government wanted to use the funds to bring our existing hospitals up to par and so they scrapped this scheme early in June.
Not sure what the rebuttal is….if you scrap it you have to bring it back.
Are those that exist running good ,great or just exibits of Gov’ts inability to manage !——- Remember who ran the country for 23 years and allowed them to be in said state. The current gov’t is only on power 5+ months, not years months.
building more hospitals ? ….? Are those that exist running good ,great or just exibits of Gov’ts inability to manage ! We all know that there is enough hospitals . Massive training of personel who manage and work in these institutions is the way to go , not building new infrastructure….this is foolish
I am happy Guyana is able to have this new specialty hospital. I am a Guyanese nurse now residing and working overseas. It is nor until I left Guyana that I realized the deplorable state the hospitals is Guyana are in.
My only dissapointment so far stems from the fact that the UGSM IS IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT IT IS A SHAME THAT IT LOST ITS ACCREDITATION. I SENT MY DAUGHTER BACK TO GUYANA TO STUDY AT UG. SHE IS DOING ONE YEAR OF NATURAL SCIENCE BEFORE ENTERING THE MEDICAL PROGRAM NEXT YEAR. I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO SEE UG REGAIN IT’S ACCREDITATION.