The IDB needs to put this project on hold

Aug 29, 2022 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – The Government is playing a dangerous game. On the one hand it wants the people to accept the damning findings of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in order to justify the need for a massive US$160B loan; and on the other hand it wants to say that these adverse findings relate to the neglect of the health sector under the APNU+AFC but that the PPP/C Government has begun to fix many of the problems.

Those problems were reported on by Kaieteur News. These findings emanated from a Draft Environmental and Social Assessment and Environmental and Social Management Plan Framework dated August 2022.

The PPP/C says that the problems identified in the IDB report relate to August 2020 when the Coalition Government was in place. But this contention is at odds with the date of the IDB report which is August 2022.

The report itself also makes it clear that the site visits to the three hospitals, namely the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, the Linden Hospital Complex and the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital were done in July 2022. The sites visits were done on July 21^st 2022, July 6^th 2022 and July 5^th 2022 respectively. It is therefore disingenuous for the Government to be now claiming that the data and evidence in the report related to the pre-August 2020 period.

In relation to the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital, the Government says there have been interventions since the PPP/C came to office. For example, it says that a new X-Ray machine has been installed since 2021 and other X-Ray machines have since been installed.

The Government further states that a new CT scan has been provided and “has been operationalised, laboratory equipment has been procured, ECG equipment, ultrasound machines, CTG for fetal monitoring in the delivery rooms, better systems for supplies have been put in place.”

It goes on to state that, “Basic maintenance work on the existing operating theatres have been done, new maternity building, with three new operating theatres is about to be commissioned, operating room tables, new delivery beds and new ICU beds have been procured, new ventilators and anesthetic machines have been installed. A new oxygen therapy system is in place. The ATS for the back-up generator has been installed. The solar system now contributes 20 percent of the energy needs of the hospital. There are now new ambulances for the hospital. A new chemotherapy building will be operationalised in a few weeks. The dialysis centre has been reactivated. A new, fully-equipped Infectious Disease Building has been constructed and operationalised. General environmental clean-up has been put in place. Upgrading of the laundry services have been embarked on. In addition, a major upgrade of the hospital is planned under the IDB project that the government has negotiated.”

These claims do not subtract much from the deficiencies unearthed by the IDB in July of this year. In fact, these are all red-herrings since they do not substantively address the shortcomings noted by the IDB in its report. The IDB study pointed to major shortcomings in relation to the physical infrastructure; and inadequate space for the dressing rooms and outpatient care and the public waiting area. The IDB found a three-bed operating theatre and a two-bed ICU. If additional beds were procured how come the IDB made these findings during its site visit in July 2022?

The IDB report also found the absence of capacity to do pathology analysis at the New Amsterdam Hospital. And as reported in this column earlier, a litany of other problems was identified including waste management and facilities management. The IDB desk study found no waste management plan. The number of toilets was found to be grossly inadequate for the traffic which flows through the hospital and some were said to be not working. The water used in the hospital was said to be untreated and the laundry inefficient.

The Government therefore should stop playing politics with the health of the population. The IDB study involved July 2022 site visits and a desktop review of the literature. As such, its findings relate to the present state of the health sector and not to that which existed under the APNU+AFC.

But just for argument sake, what if it did? If the PPP really had fixed those problems identified in the report, then it means that it has the capability to do so without borrowing. And if the IDB study is dated, as is implicit in the Government’s response, then surely, this study cannot be used as the basis for lending Guyana US$160M.

The Government wants to eat its cake and have it too. In light of the disingenuous claims being made by the Government that the findings relate to the period before August 2020, the IDB should put this project on hold until it can verify that the findings in the draft report relate to the post August 2020 period.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)