Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament (MP) Eula Marcello is calling for a beefing up of security and an increase in pay for nurses at the Mahdia District Hospital.
AFC MP Eula Marcello
During the budget debates last week, Marcello who represents Region Eight, said the infrastructural works in the region for the health sector was very welcome, but she painted a sad story of the nurses who worked at the Mahdia District Hospital.
Marcello said that nurses go beyond the call of duty, treating persons at all hours of the night with little overtime compensation.
She said she had written Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran asking that pharmacy assistants be given an additional Gy$ 10,000 as they have to treat patients for malaria at all hours. “To come out in the wee hours to treat malaria patients is not safe,” said Marcello, as she made a call for reinforced security at the hospital. But, she said to do this, the government must be willing to improve the salaries of security guards.
Marcello said it is not safe since she claims many criminals from the coast are hiding out in the region, and if nurses are to effectively carry out their jobs, they need to be assured that their lives are not in danger.
Meanwhile, Marcello said the 2012 Budget was déjà vu. She said this is not the first time the government has allocated billions and millions of dollars to various sectors, but she questioned where the monies were for Region Eight.
According to Marcello, the people of Region Eight are suffering. The roads in the region are more like trails, and are in need of major repairs. “The so-called roads in Region Eight are not in good condition. There can be no comfortable safe travelling along these roads,” Marcello contended.
Turing her attention to the water sector in the region, Marcello said that 70 per cent of the residents in Campbelltown are without water, and residents of Paramakatoi also lack potable water.
However, when Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali visited the region back in March, it was found that rogue miners were damaging water mains to source water for their mining operations.
The minister has since tasked the Guyana Water Inc with promptly addressing the situation.
The minister had pointed out that no immediate relief could be sought, but assured that the matter would be addressed comprehensively to ensure that miners do not continue to damage mains and rob residents of water.
