President Donald Ramotar yesterday said that he hopes good sense will prevail and that the National Assembly will be reconvened shortly but did not mention any move his government is making that would see him reversing his controversial proclamation to prorogue the House.
The President made the comment as he was referring to the education bill that he said is slated for the National Assembly and which he said is of importance. The President last Monday issued the proclamation, hours before the new session was slated to commence and effectively thwarted the opposition’s move to pass a motion of no-confidence against his government.
“I hope the parliament will reconvene with good sense,” the President said as he addressed those gathered to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Davis Memorial Hospital.
During his remarks at the celebration, which also saw the hospital officially opening its dental clinic, the president also told the gathering that they should not “believe all the … charges about corruption, some are true but most are not”
In other remarks the president said he believes the role of oral health is not seen with the importance that it should be seen since it has possibilities of preventing other illnesses that persons may have later on.
“And from that point of view I would love to see us doing more to lift the consciousness of people as it’s important in health. I wish too in my younger days I had a greater appreciation for that, I think I would have had stronger teeth,” the President said.
He told the management of the hospital that their work is in prefect sync with his administration which has had the biggest budgetary allocation to the social sector. He said it is a deliberate policy as more people can be touched with the resources of the state.
“And there is no better way to invest in the quality … than in education, and in health, and in housing, and in water and many other areas and that is where we are going,” he said.
The President mentioned a new school built in Kato in the Rupununi and the fact that the children will be provided with meals.
The Davis Memorial Hospital formally opened its doors at the D’Urban Backlands location in April of 1967 and it is said to be a link in a chain of hospitals that the SDA church operates around the world. While the hospital was at other locations from 1952 it was the then young doctor, Dr Oliver Pogue who saw the need for a new building as the existing building was inadequate for the steady flow of patients.
Giving a historical background of the hospital, President of the Guyana Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, Pastor Richard James stated that Dr Pogue had reported that there were cots in every available space, trolleys, surgery and instrument tables were used as beds, cushions of chairs were even put on the floor to be used as beds. In the morning there were four to five patients sitting on the step waiting for someone to be discharged, so they could be admitted. According to Pastor James the place was so cluttered that the nurses were impeded, as there was very little space around beds and since the building had no lifts doctors had to assist in lifting patients up the stairs.
It was Dr Pogue who spent time at nights repairing equipment which should have been junked years before in order to save money and realized his dream for a modern hospital. With donations from businessmen he along with the staff gave beyond the call of duty to make the hospital possible.
At yesterday’s event Dr Pogue’s children also launched the Dr Pogue Memorial Charity with a startup sum of $1M which was almost immediately increased to $1.6M when $600,000 was pledged by the Seventh Day Adventist Caribbean Union Conference.
To mark the anniversary, the hospital also embarked on a dental outreach for children between the ages of 5-10 years who were born at the hospital and will also be hosting special dental promotions throughout this month. Dental outreaches will be conducted in schools and special community outreaches will be held near to the hospital where persons will benefit from free blood pressure and random blood sugar testing with fliers relating to same.
