An US$8 million water treatment plant, to be funded from supplementary funds the Government is seeking from the National Assembly, as well as a regional hospital at Enmore, are just some of the developmental initiatives coming to the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) corridor.
During an outreach at Melanie on Saturday, Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal spoke of some of the developments from the Ministry’s perspective. The Government went to the National Assembly for approval of $44.7 billion in supplementary funds, which will be defended at the next parliamentary sitting.
“Of that $44 billion, $3.8 billion will be going to GWI (Guyana Water Incorporated) to start the construction of a number of water treatment plants on the coastland to start moving our percentage up. The good news for you here, right at Bachelor Adventure is where you get your well.”
“(The project is) budgeted and the tenders are out now. We have US$8 million budgeted for a new water treatment plant to come right here, for which the tenders will open on August 9, which will see about 10,000 persons or beneficiaries or households receiving treated water,” Croal also said.
According to Croal, who was in Melanie as part of a nine-member ministerial delegation, the range of the water treatment plant project will cover from Coldigen to Haslington on the East Coast of Demerara.
Hospital
Meanwhile, another East Coast initiative was referred to by Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony. According to him, the Government as part of its drive to decentralise healthcare, will be building a regional hospital at Enmore.
“We have a number of regional hospitals that we’ll be building, from all the way up in Skeldon right across the coast to Anna Regina and your neighbourhood. In Enmore. We will be building a regional hospital. That regional hospital will have at least 75 in-patient beds. Would have a modern accident and emergency. Would also have modern laboratories, imaging suites.”
“And that imaging suite would not just consist of X-rays and ultrasounds, but we would also add to that imaging suite, a modern CT scan. So no longer would you leave here to go to Georgetown and then pay between $30,000 to $70,000 for a CT scan,” Anthony also explained.
There are also plans for the construction of a 256-bed Paediatric and Maternal Hospital at Liliendaal, ECD. In fact, Dr Anthony revealed that construction is expected to commence during the coming week. President Dr Irfaan Ali himself will be turning the sod for this project.
“One of the things that we’ll be doing is the President will be turning the sod for a 256 beds Paediatric and Maternal Hospital and that is going to upgrade the quality of services that we have been offering to children and high-risk mothers,” Dr Anthony said.
The outreach was led by Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips. Besides Ministers Croal and Anthony, other Ministers attending included Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall; Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag; Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill; Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall and Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy.
At the last sitting of Parliament, it was announced that supplementary funding to cater for a range of countrywide developmental initiatives including to provide additional resources for Amerindian and hinterland communities, infrastructural development in new and existing housing schemes and improvement and expansion of coastal and hinterland water supply among many other areas, would be sought. Senior Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh had presented a Supplementary Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly during the 48th Sitting of the 12th Parliament.
