BRIAN SEYMOUR ON THE RAND SO CALLED HOSPITAL FREEPORT

Grand Bahama has five FNM members of Parliament . It has a Minister specifically for the Island, Sen. Kwasi Thompson, and three other Ministers that sit around the cabinet table weekly. So, this Island should lack nothing.

It is the nation’s second (2nd) City; and the industrial capital of the Bahamas. Grand Bahama also has a tourism based economy. If only for this reason, a fully functional Rand Memorial Hospital should be priority number one.

Since the passage of hurricane Dorian in September 2019, the Island does not have a fully functional hospital. Today, various aspects of health care services are rendered from a hodgepodge of repurposed buildings, such as Christ The King Church Hall, the Cancer Association building, Susan Wallace community centre and private clinics. This is the state of our health care system on Grand Bahama, today, in the midst of a Covid-19 pandemic. What a disgrace! It demonstrates a lack of vision and foresight of the people who represent our interest. Health care challenges have no respect of person, or political stripes.

It appears that contractors cannot be paid on a timely basis for work performed at the Rand Hospital. Some areas have been completed for months, but cannot be properly outfitted. Why? This tells us all we need to know about the quality of persons we call Ministers.

How does a government justify a three million-dollar contract for the Post Office which is hardly used by residents; and instead, placed our Premier health care facility on the back burner. Misplaced priorities! Does this make sense to you? Spending money on the Post Office as opposed to a fully functional hospital. Ministers, please dispense with the personal attacks and insults on the PLP. The Rand Memorial Hospital is our number one priority for the good of us all. The FNM now hold the reign of government, not the PLP.

Brian Seymour