By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage and with it comes the continued increased expenditure for goods and services including an increased $5.7 million in ambulance services and a $1 million telephone bill.
On Monday, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh dissected the $6 billion allocation from Budget 2022 in Parliament with Opposition members grilling him on the proposed expenditure for fiscal 2022.
When asked about the $5.7million increase in contracted services, he responded, “Those contracted services due to Covid-19 was to facilitate the transport of patients by Global Medical Response Trinidad and Tobago (GMRTT) for Covid related matters.”
He also questioned if he was pleased with the response of the ambulance service.
Deyalsingh replied, “No healthcare system in this pandemic has been perfect but we have done remarkably well.”
Asked by Caroni East MP Dr Rishad Seecharan if there will be a dispatch station for the service “past the Caroni bridge,” the minister said the contract for GMRTT has expired and government has reverted to an open tender process and “ we will look at those matters at that time.”
Deyalsingh was also asked why $1million was projected for telephone services to which he responded, “The Covid-19 pandemic would have demanded that goods and services for the delivery of care to patients actually be increased. One of those in fact was telephone services. We had to employ hundreds of persons to do contact tracing, track positive patients at home and so on.”
For repairs and maintenance there was an increased allocation of $276,233 which was dedicated mostly to the repairs and maintenance of the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility the minister said.
“That facility for Covid is under heavy use and will need some ongoing maintenance and that is what this line item is almost specifically for.”
He also said monies will be used under that category for the ministry’s head office in Port-of-Spain.
