Health Ministry opens $539M bond

The Ministry of the Public Health on Wednesday officially opened its bond at 1 Mud Plant, Kingston, Georgetown to store pharmaceutical equipment and supplies. The facility measuring 80 x 144sq ft costs $539,000,000.

Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence noted that the bond dubbed the Central Supplies Unit will address the immense need for adequate storage of pharmaceutical equipment and supplies. It will also ensure more accountability for the state’s resources, she said.

The Minister stressed that inadequate storage capacity has led to lack of efficiency in the supply of medicines.

“[The] conditions made it impossible for proper accountability. The ministry was experiencing loss of costly equipment and supplies,” the Minister said.

She added that “the ministry has experienced damages and loss of costly items due to flooding and leakages amounting to millions of dollars of loss,” adding that “hopefully staff would be excited and motivated to occupy this new facility to endure that requests for materials will be met in timely manner.”

She said the storage has increased three fold with this new bond.

Present at the event was Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo who made brief remarks on what the new facility means for the local pharmaceutical delivery of the public health sector.

Nagamootoo noted that “From the descriptions of the space and its facilities it would fit the description of a modern bond and a safe and secure place where we can ensure that our supplies not only pharmaceutical supplies in an accountable environment and therefore we don’t have to act under pressure by the pharmaceutical lobby to take their products at short notice”

The minister concluded by commending health Minister Volda Lawrence for the successful initiative.