The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs last Wednesday signed a contract for the continued expansion of the Indigenous Residence in Georgetown.
According to a press statement issued by the Ministry, the contract was signed by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Alfred King, Engineer Trilloyd Allen and a representative from the construction company.
The residence, which is located on Princes Street, Wortmanville, is used to house Indigenous persons visiting from the hinterland to seek medical and other services in Georgetown.
Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock, who was present at the signing, reaffirmed his ministry’s commitment to investing resources to improve the living conditions at the facility.
“The residence was in what I would term a deplorable state of affairs. We had vehicles that were not in working condition parked in the area for many, many years, we had rubbish containers around the residence and it was like a dump heap,” Allicock was quoted as saying in the statement.
“The residence is in heavy demand and it is really choked, without these facilities. It is expected that within four months from now we will have more space as we would have already begun to see in this facility,” he added.
Allicock also took the opportunity to commend the contractors who have executed work on the residence for their timely delivery before expressing the hope that the contractor for the new expansion, Satar Mohamed and Hardware Supplies, will deliver within the contractual time frame.
The statement noted that the building has undergone some $25 million in rehabilitative works, following recommendations made after a visit two years ago by the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Social Services. This includes an extension of the building, which is expected to be completed by October this year.
In addition to this, works are currently ongoing on the rehabilitation of a maternity ward at the building, which is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank through the Ministry of Public Health. It is to be completed by the end of this month.
Also included in the list of works accomplished over the last two years were the rehabilitation of the male and female dormitories, the upgrade of the main dining area, repairs to the washrooms, maintenance of the fence, and landfilling.
The residence also received a much needed boost in the area of transportation when it acquired a minibus, which is being used to transport patients to and from the hospital, the statement said.
