Sod turned for state of the art Gold Board, Health Ministry buildings

A significant sod-turning ceremony was held on Wednesday at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown for the construction of the head office for the Guyana Gold Board and the Ministry of Health’s Epidemiology Laboratory and office space.

Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence said the new laboratory will expand services of inspection, analysis, testing and research of vector bourne diseases.

She noted that the construction and procurement of equipment will cost approximately $400 million.

“This laboratory which will be placed here will help us to greatly enhance and expand the service, it just not any service but rather it’s a critical department for the work that they do is very important to all of us in Guyana maintaining good health,” the Minister said.

She said the government will seek to have the lab accredited and will house 50 staff members. The two-storey building will have experiment labs, office space, waiting area and a board room.

“We will be able to roll out many activities such as mosquito capture and identification, testing for the emergence of resistance for insecticide which are currently used, most importantly for us to carry out our research activities,” Lawrence moted.

Since it began operation in 1982 the Guyana Gold Board has had to share office space.

General Manager for the Guyana Gold Board, Eondrene Thompson said, “We anticipate a modern organization with modern facilities and improved processes these will ultimately impact the way employees perform, our valued customers will be adequately accommodated when doing business.”

A bidding process is currently ongoing for the construction for both buildings; that bidding process is expected to be completed on February 20.