Gov’t to undertake land preparation expenses for specialty hospital PDF Print E-mail
Written by GINA
Thursday, 22 December 2011 01:51
HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, yesterday said that the EXIM Bank of India has approved and made available the funding at concessionary terms for the construction of the specialty hospital at Liliendaal. He was at the time responding to questions posed by media operatives at a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President, as to why government is spending $97M on the execution of site preparation work for the specialty hospital and not the Indian Government.
The HPS explained that no grant has been identified by the Governments of Guyana and India as financial instrument, and that the funds that were made available catered exclusively for the construction of the hospital.
Dr. Luncheon said that site preparation, which includes drainage of the land and the provision of the necessary utilities (water, roads etc) that are required for the operationalisation of the institution, is a fairly expensive undertaking that was not covered in the financial arrangement between the Government of Guyana and the Government of India, through the EXIM Bank.
Last month, the Indian Government indicated that its approval of the “soft loan” to fund the construction of this state-of-the-art facility will not only become part of what is being offered within the public health system, but will also allow Guyanese to access the best quality tertiary health care at an affordable cost, as government will be entering a partnership with a management group that will deliver those services.
In February this year, former President Bharrat Jagdeo and then Minister within the Ministry of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, visited India to finalise the agreement to construct the 250-bed hospital.
When completed, the hospital will be providing services including cardio-related and cosmetic surgeries, and organ transplants. Construction is anticipated to commence by the first quarter of 2012.
Excerpts from the Guyana Chronicle
Written by GINA
Thursday, 22 December 2011 01:51
HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, yesterday said that the EXIM Bank of India has approved and made available the funding at concessionary terms for the construction of the specialty hospital at Liliendaal. He was at the time responding to questions posed by media operatives at a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President, as to why government is spending $97M on the execution of site preparation work for the specialty hospital and not the Indian Government.
The HPS explained that no grant has been identified by the Governments of Guyana and India as financial instrument, and that the funds that were made available catered exclusively for the construction of the hospital.
Dr. Luncheon said that site preparation, which includes drainage of the land and the provision of the necessary utilities (water, roads etc) that are required for the operationalisation of the institution, is a fairly expensive undertaking that was not covered in the financial arrangement between the Government of Guyana and the Government of India, through the EXIM Bank.
Last month, the Indian Government indicated that its approval of the “soft loan” to fund the construction of this state-of-the-art facility will not only become part of what is being offered within the public health system, but will also allow Guyanese to access the best quality tertiary health care at an affordable cost, as government will be entering a partnership with a management group that will deliver those services.
In February this year, former President Bharrat Jagdeo and then Minister within the Ministry of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, visited India to finalise the agreement to construct the 250-bed hospital.
When completed, the hospital will be providing services including cardio-related and cosmetic surgeries, and organ transplants. Construction is anticipated to commence by the first quarter of 2012.
Excerpts from the Guyana Chronicle
