40 new ambulances coming

THE Ministry of Health and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday signed an agreement for the procurement of  40 new ambulances at a cost of $18.5 million. Seven of the Mercedes Benz ambulances will arrive next month, with the others to follow on a monthly basis.

This was disclosed yesterday at the signing ceremony at the Park Street offices of the Ministry of Health. Government will provide the majority of funds for the vehicles, with the UNDP providing the balance. Health Minister John Rahael said also included in the agreement is a clause to provide for the maintenance of the ambulances, since too often in procuring vehicles the maintenance aspect was neglected. The ambulances will be maintained by Sterling Services Ltd. Rahael further emphasised that the ambulances will be “fully outfitted to render health care.”

Underscoring the point was the local UNDP representative, Dr Inyang Ebong-Harstrup, who said the ambulances will be able to reach out to the rural communities, since they are suited for our road conditions. She said emergency health technicians will be trained to operate the vehicles and with the maintenance clause, hopefully “we will not see again the piles of vehicles sitting there and not being used because of no facilities for maintenance.”

Permanent Secretary in the Health Ministry Hamid O’Brien said the agreement was being signed after months of negotiations with the UNDP. He said the original fleet of the EHS ambulances were “used” and came from Canada. He said with the replacement of the fleet, the reliability of the ambulance service should be greatly improved.