THE Ministry of Public Health (MPH) has budgeted $100M to be spent on reconstruction of its head office, which was completely gutted by fire in 2009. This earmarked amount will be spent in the first of three phases to complete construction of the building, which is slated to begin next year.

Speaking on Thursday during the 2017 budget debates, Public Health Minister Dr. George Norton said the project falls within the Ministry’s Policy Development and Administration programme, for which $274.5M have been set aside for capital expenditure. A total of $1.7B has been allocated for the overall programme.

“It is a known fact that the head office of MoPH was burnt to the ground nearly 8 years ago; i.e: since July 2009, during the (time of the) past regime. The PPP seemed quite contented in letting (the situation) remain that way. This coalition government, on the other hand, has better ideas; and we are now correcting this situation, because it is the proper and orderly thing to do,” Minister Norton stated.

Chiding critics from the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) who opined that the Ministers of Public Health are seeking to rebuild the MoPH Head Office so that they can operate out of a posh office setting, Dr. Norton declared: “Not so, Mr. Speaker! To the contrary, both ministers in this ministry are quite fit, keen; and ready to go out in the fields, across the savannahs, over mountains and up the rivers, where we can interact with the people and (be able) to appreciate and be more aware of their living conditions, like no other Minister of Health has ever done before. We have gone, and will continue to go, to these places rather than to be in some office in Georgetown.”

Businessman Keith “General” Ferrier, accused of setting fire to the Ministry of Health Building on Brickdam in 2009, had the charge against him dismissed last July after the prosecution failed to prove its case. The charge against Ferrier had stated that between July 16 and July 17, 2009, at Brickdam, he unlawfully and maliciously set fire to the building, property of the state.

NEW LAB
Meanwhile, $110M have been allocated for the construction of a laboratory and administrative building for the Food & Drug Department, while a further $20.7M will be used to procure laboratory supplies, quality control aids, and proficiency testing materials.

The Health Minister has said that a steam digester and fume hood would also be purchased for the Excise Laboratory at a cost of $11.2M; while $2M will be spent to source two incubators and a hot-air oven for the Microbiology Lab.
Five analytical balances for all the laboratories will also be sourced at a cost of $7.5M. All of the mentioned items would aid in the efficient operation of the Food & Drug Department.

The National Public Health Reference Laboratory will also be strengthening its quality management system with the aim of achieving the accreditation of the international organization for standards relating to quality management systems’ requirement.
“This will certainly minimize our dependence on overseas testing,” said Dr. Norton.

A refrigerated delivery truck will be purchased at a cost of $20M for the Materials Management Unit at Diamond, and the Ministry of Public Health will, under “Programme 7”, seek to provide disability and rehabilitation services for all persons with impairments and disabilities, thereby enabling them to achieve a greater level of independence and greater levels of participation in society.
The sum of $21.8M has been allocated for this purpose.

Another sum of $10M has been budgeted for the purchase of vehicles, which include $6M for the procurement of a pick-up and $4M to secure a 15-seater bus for the Cheshire Home. Five million dollars ($5M) have been allotted for other equipment, such as two treadmills which cost $0.8M, two elliptical trainers costing $0.7M, therapeutical bicycles costing $0.95M, weight bars costing $0.5M, and a massage table costing $0.6M million dollars.

Moreover, $6M will be spent on purchasing medical equipment such as a tympanometer which costs $0.84M, a neurology bed which costs $0.8M, audiometers costing $0.6M, an auditory brainstem response machine costing $2M, two echo-check screeners costing $2.2M, and eight adjustable manual therapy stools costing $0.24M.

Dr. Norton further disclosed that the training centre for the treatment of physical disability will be constructed at the Cyril Potter College of Education at Turkeyen.