| The non-provision of an ambulance for the Linden Hospital Complex by the Ministry of Health, even after several requests were made for same, yesterday resulted in the suspension of the July statutory meeting of the Regional Democratic Council.The motion for suspension was voted by Councilors Charles Sampson,Wholesale Air Max, Maurice Butters and Lesley Gonsalez, and was supported by all the other councilors except one, Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon told media operatives in a press briefing yesterday.According to Solomon the issue of the ambulance was to be the first on the matters arising from the action list of the last statutory meeting, which was held in June.Sharma SolomonThe action list,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Solomon said, stated that the Chairman should update Council on what the response was from the Ministry of Health (through the Permanent Secretary), relating to the provision of an ambulance for the Linden Hospital Complex.“Now in the motion that was carried by council, this was amended to include Region Ten, and not just the Linden Hospital Complex, because we recognize that also in Kwakwani we have issues with an ambulance not being available to residents in the sub region areas between Kwakwani, Ituni and Aroaima.“It is with that motion that the suspension and further instruction by Council to make known to the Minister and the Government that the People of region 10 are totally dissatisfied with the response being shown or demonstrated by the Ministry of Health, in this very important matter.”Solomon said that it was an utter disgrace that the people of Linden (30,000 residents) and Region Ten (50,000), which is a vital region,Brett Favre Falcons Jersey, should be without an ambulance, as people are at the mercy of private transportation providers.“As Chairman of Region 10, I am in full support of Councilors’ position,” Solomon declared.Solomon added that as early as June 6th last, a call was made to the permanent Secretary who was brought up to date on the matter relating to the need for an ambulance. That call, he said, was made immediately after the last statutory meeting of the council.The response was that there wasn’t much that the Ministry could do at that time, but all was being done to acquire an ambulance,Two more ‘contacts’ were subsequently made in relation to the provision of an ambulance, including one on the very day that two Bosai Workers were killed and three others injured in a horrific accident, on the Coomacka Mines haul road. The injured were unable to be transported properly, as alternative transportation had to be used.To date no word has been received about the situation as regards the ambulance, even though the need for one is now, Solomon emphasized.He added that the Region intends to take further action to ensure that there is an ambulance in the community.The Linden Hospital Complex has been without the services of an ambulance for over two months now, after the one that had been serving the institution broke down on its way to Georgetown, while transporting a patient to the Georgetown Public Hospital.Repeated calls were made to the Permanent Secretary for another vehicle to provide the services of an ambulance in the interim, according to Councilor Maurice Butters, but to date nothing has been done.Butters said that for more than five years, the Ministry of Health had been approached for an ambulance, as the vehicles at the hospital are over 12 years old.Apart from that, an ambulance that had been provided to the Linden Hospital by the Region in 2006,Discount NFL Jerseys, only worked for about a year. It developed mechanical problems soon after and has not worked since, even though almost $3mil was spent on repairs. The vehicle is presently y parked in the old hospital compound.Butters said that the amount of money that was spent on the ambulance could have b ought four vehicles.As it relates to Kwakwani, Butters said that at present there is only one ambulance serving the area, and that whenever it leaves the community, there is no guarantee that it would reach its destination, because of the difficult terrain. Quite often, he pointed out, persons have to be put into other vehicles to continue their journey to Linden.With this in mind, he suggested that when acquiring an ambulance for the Kwakwani and Ituni consideration should be given to acquire a vehicle that could stand up to the difficult terrain, that the vehicle would have to traverse in and out of these districts.Vice Chairman Byron Lewis said that it was totally disrespectful and embarrassing for the community to be out of an ambulance for so long, and called the decision to suspend the Statutory meeting yesterday, to attend to the issue of the ambulance,Wholesale NFL China Jerseys, as a bold and authoritative step taken by councilors.Also condemning the attitude of the Permanent Secretary and the Ministry of Health were Councilors Audwin Rutherford and Lesley Gonsales,Cheap Jerseys From China, while Councillor Stanley Collins voiced his intention to mobilize persons across the community to take further action, if the ambulance issue is not treated with the urgency it deserves.Meanwhile Council has made a decision not to proceed with any other matter until the issue of the ambulance is settled. All the Councilors present at the press briefing said that they fully endorsed the suspension of Council yesterday.Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon has meanwhile said that he expects the issue of the ambulance to be dealt with within a week, or further action will be taken. |
