Government has heeded the concerns of New Amsterdam residents for the preservation of the building which formerly housed the town’s public hospital, and will now meet the Berbice private sector to design its future.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said the matter was discussed at Cabinet last week and the decision was taken to meet the business community there, since the intention was to preserve the heritage site as an economically viable service provider for the entire region.
To this end, he said, a variety of options would be discussed so that a rehabilitated facility would host services that were needed in the community.
Yesterday at a press briefing Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy said that an arrangement to have the hospital run by a private sector body was being examined, since the government could not afford the rehabilitative works which would have to be done on it.
He added that his ministry was at present faced with a number of other expenses which had greater priority than the old New Amsterdam Hospital. He listed these as including the reconstruction of the Ministry of Health building and rehabilitation work on the Georgetown Public Hospital and the West Demerara Hospital.
Vandalism had plagued the old New Amsterdam building which was more or less abandoned after the new US$13M hospital was commissioned on February 20, 2005.
Residents say that the building poses a serious fire hazard and could collapse at any time. The timber masterpiece was designed by architect, Cesar Castellani in 1881 and the hospital was officially opened in 1884.
Residents told Stabroek News exactly one year ago that vagrants had entered the compound by scaling the fence and “would curse and smoke in the building and if a fire should break out it would spread quickly.”
They complained too of persons using the building as a hideout and the police had admitted to this newspaper that stolen items had been recovered there. As a result they called for the authorities to “preserve the building and to ensure that the vagrants are kept away from it.”
One resident had recommended that if government had no plans to repair the building they should pull it down, but admitted that if this decision were taken it would be sad, because the building was a masterpiece.
This newspaper had published an article highlighting the section of the fence that the junkies had ripped apart to gain access the building so they could remove zinc sheets, sinks, cupboards and electrical and pipe fittings.
Residents had told Stabroek News too that the vandals entered the compound freely through the broken fence close to the gate at the Main Street entrance “as if they own it… Late at nights we would be disturbed by the loud pounding and hammering.”
Pastor Wilbert Daniels, a former staff member who lived close to the hospital, had related to this newspaper that he was sad to see the vandals destroying the building.
There were also reports that the vandals had removed materials such as plyboard and sliding doors which were used to convert sections of the building into a nursing school and dormitory. But after the publication of the article no more items were removed.
The Ministry of Health had promised to “transform” a part of the building into a nursing school and dormitory after operations were shifted to the new location in November 2004.
Ramsammy, when contacted had said that the project had commenced. The ministry was “still working on it” but needed more money for its completion.
The minister at that time too had not received any report that the materials were removed and was also unaware that zinc sheets and other items were being stolen.
Residents had also told Stabroek News that if the building stands as a monument it should not be left empty but the space should be utilized for the establishment of a library and a [medical] museum.
“They should fabricate some of the items they have at the museum in town and can even display antique items such as hot water bottles, blood pressure kits and old uniforms. We do not have anything like this in Berbice; everything is in Georgetown… It is my desire to see it restored,” Daniels had said.
It was suggested also that persons viewing the items could be charged a fee which would go towards the maintenance of the building, as “people in other countries value their historical sites…” Daniels had proposed.
A letter writer to this newspaper had said that “…efforts should be made by the government of Guyana to contact the International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, which usually finances the preservation of buildings that qualify.”
A brief history of the hospital states that an extension which started from the western end of the building in 1925 and was completed in 1926, served as the tuberculosis ward on the bottom flat and a maternity ward on the top flat.
The x-ray department was opened in 1928 and an x-ray machine was purchased and installed. The other x-ray department was opened in December 1966.
The nurses’ dining room was built and a small laboratory was erected in 1932. Further additions were done to the building in 1950. There was no adequate water supply and rainwater had to be collected and stored in large tanks and then pumped into the wards. The water system was improved in 1952 when an artesian well was sunk.
