RESIDENTS of Orealla and Siparuta on the Corentyne River, Region Six, have received a new water ambulance which replaces the one that was destroyed by fire in March.

The 14.5-million-dollar water ambulance was handed over by Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony on Saturday at Skeldon, Region Six.

“It is a major investment that we are making because we understand the needs that you have moving from Orealla/Siparuta to come out here to Skeldon, and we want to facilitate this,” he told residents and regional health officials gathered for the handing-over ceremony.

After the previous ambulance was destroyed by fire, the ministry worked on procuring a new water ambulance to benefit the communities.

“What we have to do is learn from these mistakes to make sure that whatever safety procedures that we are putting in place, that we make sure that we adhere to them, so that we don’t have any future mishaps,” Minister Anthony stated.
Minister Anthony also outlined the work that government has done in the community to upgrade the facilities and provide quality healthcare for residents there.

He noted the provision of an all-terrain vehicle and several medical missions to the communities.

He also noted that the communities will also benefit from the eye test and spectacle voucher programme, and the cervical cancer screening programme which were recently launched.

The minister noted that because of the distance, efforts will be made to take the programme to those communities to avoid persons having to travel to benefit.

“As we work to improve health across the country, we don’t want any place to be left out and that is why we are working to make sure that everything that is needed that we are working to provide it,” Minister Anthony stated.

This water ambulance will help transport critical patients from the remote communities to the Skeldon Regional Hospital. (DPI)