Landate Report recommends that persons be charged

So stated UNC MP Dr Hamza Rafeeq in the Budget debate in the House of Representatives yesterday. He called on Prime Minister Patrick Manning to keep his promise to lay the report of the Commission of Inquiry in Parliament.

Describing the Scarborough Hospital Project as one of the biggest scandals to hit this country, Rafeeq called on Government to tell the nation how much money has been spent to date, and what would be the final cost of the hospital. He said his information was that the hospital, which was originally budgeted to cost $125 million, would end up costing the country more than $400 million.

Noting that it was an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) project under the Health Sector Reform Programme, he called on the bank to make a public statement on the "public fiasco."

Rafeeq said the people of Tobago were suffering because the old hospital was falling apart. He said the second scandal was the construction of the oncology (cancer) centre. He said Government hired a local doctor to head the project — who had no expertise or experience in cancer treatment — at a cost of more than $50,000 plus allowances.

He said when a recent trip was arranged for a local team to visit one of the best cancer treatment centres in the world in Houston, US, the same director stated that she wanted the trip cancelled.

When this could not be done, the doctor stated that she would go to Houston for one day, instead of the initial one-week visit, to save face.

"Could you imagine that? Here you have a golden opportunity to interact with the best people in the world, as far as cancer treatment is concerned. They mobilise their resources and put them at your disposal, and you want to cancel the project," Rafeeq said.

Saying that the centre had stalled, Rafeeq said hundreds of people were dying of cancer, or were forced to pay US$50,000 for basic radiation therapy or more intense cancer treatment overseas.

Rafeeq said people with cancer can live long with early detection. "Unfortunately, with billions of dollars flowing through our Treasury, our patients do not have that luxury," he said.

Rafeeq called on Government to make appropriate arrangements with cancer centres abroad to treat our citizens at a cost to the Government, or at least a subsidised cost, until Government is able to construct, equip and begin treatment at the oncology centre.

Rafeeq said Government also failed to keep its promise to provide two renal dialysis centres. He said the hopes of kidney patients, which were raised by the announcement, have been dashed because it never materialised. He also called on Health Minister John Rahael to implement the tissue transplant programme, another life-saving measure. He said he sometimes felt that life had no meaning for the Government members.

However, Rafeeq began his contribution by expressing condolences to Rahael on the loss of his nephew. He said the UNC had its own share of grief when Naparima MP Nizam Baksh’s son was killed.

He said it showed that no one was immune to crime.