After construction Versailles health building was not in use and not secured

Nov 13, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
Thank you for providing readers with a graphic account of the misuse of public funds generally, and in particular, in Region Three.
The unused buildings and other facilities, which you have featured, bring to the public’s attention undisputable evidence of the type that Mr. Jagdeo has been calling for but refusing to act on.
I must point out however, that, your publication’s effort is not the first in this regard. In my contribution to the budget debate in the National Assembly in 2007, special attention was given to these same facilities, their non-use and the squander of resources associated therewith. Letter size photographs were displayed to the Assembly in the course of my presentation. At the time, issues of greater importance superseded such regional matters in terms of news worthiness.
Permit me to deal with the specific matter of the Versailles health building. I read your account of Regional Chairman Mr. Julius Faerber relative to this matter and concluded that either Mr. Faerber lacks knowledge and refuses to diligently enquire into the circumstance surrounding this building’s very existence, or he has embarked on a deliberate course of misleading the public.
The fact of the matter is that immediately after construction, the facility was not in use and not secured. This resulted in vandals and four-legged animals going to work on it. Even the electrical fittings were removed, while cows made use of the modern toilet facility, or what was left of it. The Regional Administration under Faeber had to find a way to secure financial resources to replace the vandalised items and repair damage to the building, which was constructed during Esau Dookie’s tenure as Chairman of Region Three. Faerber therefore seeks to lay the blame at the feet of the contractor by suggesting that there was a dispute of some sort and that the works were not completed. What a convenient departure from the truth.
There was no interest in either having electricity there or placing the building into active use for that matter; not until I exposed the matter in the National Assembly on behalf of the people of the region. After that The Administration rushed to put the building into acceptable shape. Resources were obtained and the necessary replacement of fixtures, fittings, windows and roofing material effected.
They then realised that there was no electricity and an application was rushed in 2008, for the first time, years after the building was first completed.
A few months ago, I approached the Regional Chairman with a request for the building to be made available for a community medical outreach exercise which was conducted by HERG a US based NGO. Things were looking good for the volunteers to use the facility for the benefit of the community.
That changed when the Regional Chairman called me to say that the Regional Executive Officer had advised against the idea on account of the unavailability of electricity. Even after the offer of the provision of a generator in order for the facility to be used for the purpose for which it was intended, use was denied. The alternative of the NDC building in Phoenix Park was instead made available. The Regional Administration missed a golden opportunity to launch this building with a gem of a voluntary medical outreach exercise by overseas-based Guyanese medical professionals which resulted in significant benefits to more than 250 residents of the neighbourhood in which this “white elephant” was constructed.
Let the Guyanese citizens decide whether Faerber and the PPP are seriously interested in the welfare and wellbeing of the people of this country.
Mervyn Williams, MP

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After construction Versailles health building was not in use and not secured

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