Motion passed for COI into Region One Gastro Outbreak

Jun 17, 2013 News

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In light of reports that the gastroenteritis outbreak in Region One earlier this year, which claimed the lives of at least three children and sickened close to 500 adults, was linked to poor data collection and by extension late detection, Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, David Granger, is calling for a Commission of Inquiry (COI).
Through a Motion brought to the National Assembly on Thursday in his name, Granger said that the Inquiry is one that will be seeking to determine the cause of the outbreak, the conditions that existed in the Barima/Waini Region at the time and to look at the course and consequences.
The outbreak, which saw the Health Ministry engaging measures in collaboration with a number of entities, was centred in the Kaituma area of the Region.
In presenting the Motion, which was accepted by the House, Granger alluded to the deduction of Dr. Lisa Indar of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) that the public health challenge might not have had severe consequences had there been better data collection and early detection.
The Opposition Leader also made reference to the need for the Inquiry to examine the public works as well as the public information aspects within the Region.
Moreover, he noted that an urgent appointment of a Commission of Inquiry is crucial in order to seek a solution to what occurred with a view of ensuring that there is no such reoccurrence.
He further alluded to the fact that the state of affairs is one that has been of a repetitive nature so much so that a previous Health Minister had indicated that between December and March there is always a rise in the number of gastroenteritis cases. “He (the Health Minister) pointed out that this is the deadliest period, the most dangerous period, in other words Mr. Speaker, this is something that could have been anticipated because the previous Minister had a less political bend and was able to discern this pattern several years ago.” Granger was at the time referring to former Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
It is Granger’s belief that the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry will help to determine that the most vulnerable persons were children and “we know there were three confirmed deaths of children 12 months and younger…It was the youngest who suffered and these are the people who should be taking over this country,” Granger asserted.
He also vocalised his conviction that residents of the riverain Barima/Waini Region, which includes three groups of indigenous people – Arawak, Carib and Warrau – are very susceptible to the ever-prevailing gastroenteritis disease.
The Region, which he described as an area four times the size of Trinidad and Tobago, is one that has produced at least three Ministers of Government and therefore must be regarded as one that is important. However, he noted that the locale continues to be susceptible to the vagaries of the frontier economy. “There is mining, there is logging and of course it is a Region with great potential but it is also an area of great smuggling and lawlessness, so it requires greater attention from the law enforcement and other regulatory agencies,” said Granger.
Alluding to the gastroenteritis crisis, he noted that there are at least six ministries with responsibility for Region One but noted that “we haven’t heard of the reaction of some of these ministries to this crisis.”  He listed the Ministries of Local Government and Regional Development, Health, Amerindian Affairs, Natural Resources and the Environment, Housing and Water and Education. In addition, he said that there are several government agencies such as the Geology and Mines Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Guyana Water Incorporated and the Guyana Forestry Commission. “When we see the complexity of the administrative obligation of the State, that is when we understand the importance of a strong Local Government, a strong Regional Democratic Council to be able to coordinate its work in an area four times the size of Trinidad; to be able to coordinate the work of six ministries, and if our Local Government structure is weak, coordination will be poor, and if coordination is poor our children will die,” added a passionate Granger.
However, he conjectured that the deadliest disease in the Region is not in any way gastroenteritis but rather “it is the feeling of being abandoned, the feeling of being deserted, the feeling of being disregarded, the feeling of being disowned by the very Government which should protect us; which should preserve life and which should prevent this catastrophic type of epidemic.”
Also speaking on the subject was Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, who disclosed that his Ministry from the onset was on top of the gastroenteritis crisis as it was with a malaria outbreak in Waramadong in January. He insisted too that the Ministry is pained by the deaths that resulted and has since had a heightened interest in the affected areas as well as others.
Presentations on the gastro situation were also made by APNU’s Members of Parliament Rennita Williams, George Norton and James Bond, Minister within the Local Government Ministry, Norman Whittaker, AFC’s Valeri Garrido Lowe, Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.

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