THE sod was, on Monday, turned for the construction of a new Health Centre at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.

This is according to a release from the Ministry of Health, which said that Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony and Attorney General Anil Nandlall turned the sod to commemorate the beginning of the construction of the new Health Centre at Mon Repos.

It was noted that the construction of the centre is estimated to cost just around $66M and is expected to benefit the residents of Mon Repos and the surrounding communities.

At the ceremony, the health minister said that the nearest health centre is some distance away from Mon Repos and as such the initiative to have the health centre built was developed.

“The next health centre that we have here is at Lusignan, which is some distance away. Mon Repos is a very big area and this is something that a lot of people in the area have been asking for, for many years,” he said.

The Minister added that, as a result, the government looked at the calls and realised that there was a gap that needed to be filled and, based on the assessment done, they went ahead to develop the project.

Added to this, Dr Anthony said that doctors and nurses have already been identified for the facility and upon completion, the new facility will provide services like modern child care, immunisation for children, treatment for chronic diseases, point of care laboratory and other specialised services such as dental services.