THE controversial Specialty Hospital is likely to go into a deep coma. With the current poor and inadequate health services, the Government says focus will be placed on improving the primary health care system.Minister of State, Joseph Harmon said this is more important than pushing medical tourism at this stage of the country’s development.
The previous Administration late last year terminated the services and sued for fraud Surendra Engineering Company Limited (SECL), the company contracted to build the hospital. The Government won the case.
The award included: US$4.3 million–sums that were lost in its contract with the company for the design and construction of the proposed Specialty Hospital; costs in the sum of US$10,714.50; and interest at the rate of six percent per annum from the date of filing to the date of judgment and at the rate of four percent until fully paid. However, no representative of the company was present during the hearing and from reports, not a cent has been repaid.
Under the contract, it was agreed that the company would provide services in relation to designing, building, equipping, testing, delivering, installing, completing and commissioning certain facilities for the Surgical Specialty hospital in Turkeyen, Georgetown.
As agreed in the contract, on December 27, 2012, SECL was given an advanced payment of 20 percent of the contract sum – US$3.64 million. On November 18, 2013, an additional payment of US$649,440 was made.
Subsequently, SECL failed to submit payment receipts to account for the total advanced payments of US$4.3 million – the second sum claimed in the lawsuit.
Instead, SECL submitted fabricated, unsigned and inflated invoices with no evidence of actual payments made to support the expenditure claimed.
The hospital, a US$18 million project was being funded through a loan from Exim Bank of India. The David Granger-led Administration is now looking at spending the balance of the US$18 million on improving primary health care services.
Minister Harmon told reporters at a post-Cabinet briefing on Wednesday that Finance Minister, Winston Jordan has been mandated by Cabinet to enter into and continue the conversation that had been started with the Exim Bank.
He said a comprehensive report on the status of the project will be prepared by a consultancy group, and based on the recommendations, the Government will decide on the way forward.
“The current thinking of the Administration is once those sums of monies are available, that it would prefer that the monies be spent in other areas that have to do with primary health care.”
Minister Harmon noted that there are hospitals that are in need of funding, pointing to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (Region 3) and the Mabaruma Hospital (Region 1).
Public Health Minister, Dr. George Norton on a recent visit to a number of public health facilities, also found several of them wanting in standard of service.

By Tajeram Mohabir