Some 160,000 residents of Couva and surrounding districts will benefit from construction of a US$4 million medical laboratory facility sponsored by PCS Nitrogen. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, together with PCS Nitrogen managing director Ian Welch, South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) chairman Dr Lackram Bodoe, Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh and Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial turned the sod for construction of the facility on Friday. "This is no small achievement as it will positively affect the healthcare of a catchment area of more than 160,000 people in the region of Couva and environs," Bodoe said, adding that the Couva Health Facility was the "most heavily utilised of our district health facilities."
Bodoe said some 30,000 lab tests from the Couva District Health facility were processed at San Fernando General Hospital lab. On May 6, 2011, SWRHA and PCS Nitrogen signed a memorandum of understanding to work together as partners in health. Welch said the company was pleased to be part of the project since "as people who dearly love this country, we cannot afford to dismiss the link between our people's health and our country's development." Indarsingh challenged other companies and captains of industry to partner with the Government and deepen the relations between the public and private sectors. The laboratory would be outfitted to perform complete blood count, blood glucose, renal function and liver function tests.