Govt. sets aside $60M to rent more buildings for Cuban health workers

Feb 05, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – With another brigade of Cuban doctors and technicians expected to arrive in the country shortly, the government through the Ministry of Health has put aside some $60 million for rental of more buildings to accommodate them.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony

This was revealed on Friday by Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony during the Considerations of the 2024 Budget Estimates and Expenditure.

Under the ministry’s Regional and Clinical Services programme, Minister Anthony was asked by Opposition Member of Parliament (MP), Dr. Karen Cummings to provide a breakdown of the sums for rental of buildings moving from $50.232 million in 2023 to $99.8 million this year.

In his response, the Health Minister said that from the $99.8 million, the ministry has set aside $23 million that would be spent to house the Cuban doctors who are in Guyana currently, those that are in Georgetown who are residing at Duke Street.

He went on to explain that the ministry is spending $1 million for a residence they are renting in Campbellville, and the agency is renting another place in Toucan Drive in Linden for the Chinese doctors and the Cuban doctors for $4.2 million. He noted that in Linden also they have several rentals for healthcare workers who reside there.

When questioned by Opposition MP, Volda Lawrence on the new buildings that they are going to rent in 2024, Anthony said on Friday, “Apart from those that we have already we have set aside another $60 million or so because we are expanding the Cuban brigade and so we expect within the first quarter of this year to have more Cuban doctors and technicians coming into Guyana. So, we have set aside a sum of money to rent additional buildings for them when they come.”

The sum of money for rentals forms part of the $110 billion that was approved for the Health Ministry in the National Assembly on Friday.

As previously reported, Minister Anthony at his year-end press conference in December had said that some 200 Cuban doctors and nurses are expected to arrive in the country early this year. This was just to address the shortage of nurses the country is currently facing.

Minister Anthony had mentioned that currently, a robust programme is ongoing to train local nurses but in the meantime, they are recruiting personnel from outside of Guyana. Some 80 healthcare workers from Cuba had come into Guyana last year, the minister had disclosed.

“By early next year, we are expecting another 200 nurses to come in and we are also looking at other countries where we can recruit nurses from and again, this is an ongoing process,” he mentioned. He stated that having recruited nurses from Cuba, the ministry has a three-month crash course that the foreigners have been taking part in to learn the English language.

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Cuban healthcare workers, Dr. Frank Anthony, Government, rental buildings, spending $60 million

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