A medical service centre of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development which will serve Linden to Lethem Road users is 95 per cent complete.
The construction of the centre comes through a US$89,900 grant from Japan for major Grassroots Human Security Projects.

On Tuesday, Iwokrama’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dane Gobin, said the centre should be completed within a month, noting that only electrical works on the building are to be done.

Iwokrama is situated in the centre of Guyana. The former small health facility was the closest medical centre between Linden and Annai.

The Iwokrama International Centre is located some 400 kilometers in the interior of Guyana which still makes the construction process a challenging one when coupled with the rainy weather.

Nonetheless, the new centre is to be fully serviced with two full-time medical personnel, two examination rooms, dispensary, hospital beds, ramps catering for trolleys and stretchers, a consultation room and more.

The building will utilise solar energy as well as generators for 24/7 power.
Speaking of the need for such a facility, Gobin told Guyana Chronicle: “We provide a valuable service; we provide it to road users, guests, tourists, volunteers, interns and the Fairview community which has about 300 people.”

Fairview is the only community within Iwokrama but there are scores of other persons residing in the area.

“We had a medical facility [previously], a small dispensary… but we didn’t have the space; it wasn’t safe with medical information because if you’re doing an interview with a patient that is confidential you need a lot of privacy. Now we have a dedicated building so we’ve actually closed the very small, 100 square feet building to a whole new stand-alone building,” Gobin stated.

Meanwhile, Gobin expects the upgrade of the Linden to Lethem Road will lead to an increase in traffic which will lead to an increase in the need for medical attention.
“Once that road becomes more usable, we’ll see more road users, increased access, less expensive transport and more people. So, I’m not even sure — once that road [is completed] — if we will be able [to handle the amount of patients]. The government might have to look at a full-fledge hospital,” he said.

Prior to receiving the funding, the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development compiled a project proposal which it sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which was later picked up by Japan.

It was one of three projects which received funding from Japan back in February 2018. The St. Francis Community Developers, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) received funding to the tune of US$90, 797 for the construction of a skills training resource centre at Corentyne, Berbice.

Special Needs for Life, another NGO received US$89,813 for the construction of a multi-purpose centre in Kuma Village in the Rupununi area which will serve as a hub for the provision of social services to 1,200 residents of the area.