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– PPP scrapped design with sick bay
The death of a fifty-three-year-old woman, Alma Wells, aboard the recently launched MV Ma Lisha while traveling from Mabaruma to Georgetown is very concerning to former Public Works Minister under the APNU/AFC coalition government, David Patterson.
Patterson, in an interview with Credible Sources, said a disservice was done to the Guyanese people with the purchase of the ferry, as he expressed his sincere condolences to the family of Ms. Wells. Patterson, said, “Firstly, I would like to send my condolences to the lady who unfortunately lost her life on the MV Ma Lisha. I want to commend the staff of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD). I heard they rendered CPR to the lady as well as the young lady with the asthmatic attack.”
Patterson said that any vessel on which persons are traveling for extended hours needs to have a sick bay. He added that the boat design that the Ministry of Public Works was rejected twice by the Transport and Harbours Department as well as the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) twice because of substandard designs.
The engineer said that “the design that was approved under the Coalition APNU/AFC government had a medical bay, which was added because of the length of the trip. “It’s an 18-hour trip and women have gone into labour over the years and delivered on the previous boats,” Patterson stated.
The engineer said, adding that “when boat designs came up members of the T&HD said we should have a medical bay in the new designs.” He noted that when the PPP/C government came into office, they scrapped the designs done under the APNU/AFC and went ahead with the substandard boat design.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Public Works, through T&HD, reported the woman’s death after reports surfaced on social media that two people had died. The woman, according to the statement, died despite attempts to revive her. According to the statement, the woman was observed in her seat motionless by crew members, who checked for a pulse but found none.
The captain, according to the statement, administered CPR, but the woman regained consciousness for a short while before losing consciousness again. Contact was made with the lighthouse, from where the Coast Guard assisted in transporting her to their facility, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. The release also said that a crew member assisted an 18-year-old who had an asthma attack. She too was taken off the vessel by the Coast Guard for further medical checks and cleared. T&HD has denied claims that two people died on the vessel and that an air conditioning unit had malfunctioned.
