Simona Broomes fact-finding mission…72 Miles residents raise health issues

Women of 72 Miles do their washing at the riverside.

Forty-five-year-old Patrenella Wilkie watched her daughter die from what started as a “mild fever” and she blames the lack of proper medical facilities available in the 72 Miles, Region Seven community for her death.
It has been years since her “big, big, good daughter” died and Wilkie is now saddled with the responsibility of taking of care her two children.

Wilkie and some other women from the community recently told the President of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) Simona Broomes during a visit that their community is the “forgotten village” and they pleaded for better health facilities and educational opportunities for the young.

Broomes visited 72 Miles and 14 Miles late last month and while she is concerned about what she saw in both areas it is for different reasons. While 72 Miles is in serious need of better social services, Broomes said she was very disturbed about the night life in 14 Miles, a setting that exudes prostitution and violence.

Health at 72 Miles
While Toshao Reynald Davis of 72 Miles indicated that the authorities are “trying” in the area of health,