LEADER of the Opposition, Brigadier David Granger, lauded the work of the Board of Management of the National Veterans Rest Home Inc., when he visited the institution recently. Mr. Granger expressed support for the institution’s efforts to improve the quality of life of former members of the Guyana Defence Force, People’s Militia and other Disciplined Services.
Responding to an invitation from the Board, he was escorted around the premises by Guyana Legion President Colonel Carl Morgan, Chairman of the Board of Management Colonel Randy Storm, and Ms Margaret-Rose Arthur, Administrator of the home.
Located on Essequibo Street, Lamaha Springs, La Penitence in Georgetown, the home will provide comfortable accommodation and ready medical attention to 20 veterans. The two-storeyed building, constructed at a cost of about $70M, includes administrative offices, a medical centre, living quarters for men and women, lounge, kitchen, laundry, dining room and storerooms. It is equipped with a lift and other modern amenities.
The idea for a Veterans’ Home was conceived by the Guyana Veterans Foundation – a registered trust – since 1995. It was only under former Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff, Brigadier Edward Collins, that two plots of land in the Joint Services Scheme were made available to the Foundation a decade later.
The sod was turned on the Guyana Defence Force’s 40th anniversary in November 2005. Construction began the next year with money raised from fund-raising activities; donations by military veterans, both local and overseas; veterans associations in Toronto, Los Angeles and New York; annual donations from private individuals, institutions and corporations; the Royal Canadian Legion; Guyana Defence Force; and the Government of Guyana.