Dear Editor,

There are some areas of concern that need to be addressed at the Port Kaituma Hospital and the Port Kaituma school dormitory  in Region One.

For some time now the hospital and the school have been experiencing a shortage of food supply for the patients at the hospital and the live-in students at the dorms, as well as a shortage of cleaning and other materials for both institutions.

At the moment the hospital only takes in emergency cases; some of these cases are referred to Georgetown for treatment. The patients who are referred to Georgetown and the accompanying nurse also are experiencing difficulties with the airline. These services are usually supplied to the local administration by the business community at Port Kaituma on a credit basis. But the business community has not been paid in a timely manner, some members for as far back as 2007. In their own way of protesting about the delayed payments, some of them have stopped or reduced the supplies they provide,  including the air service, which is definitely affecting both institutions.

To ensure that the institutions function, the administration at times sources items from the business people in the Mabaruma district, which is over sixty miles away and involves an additional cost, because they have to use river transportation which requires over thirty-five gallons of gasoline for one trip, and the cost of gasoline in the interior is always more expensive than it is in the city.

It would not be wise to take the emergency patients to Mabaruma and then to Georgetown, since the Mabaruma hospital is also experiencing similar difficulties.

It is only right that the local administration address these concerns urgently, so that the business people will be happy and the services will continue as per normal.

Yours faithfully,
D. Fernandes  MP

Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to the Region One Chairman, Mr Fermin Singh, for any comments he may wish to make.