The fight for better health care which I felt that the people of Arima and environs deserve has been a struggle for the last 35 years, and I was determined to do my part to help make this happen through the group called The Friends of the Arima Hospital Society. Tuesday, the opening of the new Arima General Hospital, was a red-letter day.
I was born in Arima Hospital in 1942 and nurse “Ted” delivered me. Some of the other nurses were Nurse Auguste, Cezair and Titus. In 1958, after 5 pm while playing football, I got a cut on my face and went to the Arima Hospital. The nurse told me that it needed stitches and sent me to Dr Seenath next door since it could not be done at the hospital. He told me to pay $2 but I had no money. He refused to stitch the cut.
Decades later, in 1984, my family witnessed the tragic passing of my father at the Arima Accident and Emergency department at the age of 68. The attending physician Dr Pierre was extremely perturbed stating that with proper medication and equipment my father could have been saved. Deeply hurt by this loss, I yearned to do something so that others would not have to go through such torment.
Sometime in 1985, encouraged by Dr Calvin Inalsingh, I put together a team called The Friends of Arima Hospital Society and served as the chairman, where I set out planning ways to assist the institution which was so vital to Arima and its environs. The team did a “walk through” in the hospital and listed the burning and crucial issues facing the doctors and nurses. This way, we were able to analyse the problems in order of priority.
Several projects were undertaken to raise funds through donations, raffles and bazaars. We raised enough funds to purchase items that were required immediately. Upon presentation, the registrar at the time, Ms Romano, informed us that she could not accept the items as she had no permission from the Ministry of Health to do so. We eventually approached the then minister of health, Dr Emmanuel Hosein, who took the matter to Cabinet to accept the public-spirited gifts of cleaning products, mops, buckets, bleach, toilet paper, fridge, stove, microwave, washing machine, stationery and a register book.
The Friends continued their selfless endeavours to promote health and well being in this district. The continued efforts at raising funds facilitated the refurbishing of the nurses’ hostel which was converted to the Accident and Emergency department in 1987. The late prime minister ANR Robinson together with the present Minister of Education, the Honourable Anthony Garcia, who was also a member of The Friends of Arima Hospital Society, attended and spoke at the function.
We later raised funds to assist with the extension and refurbishment of the dispensary. However, despite these renovations and additions, the organisation realised that with the expanding population there was the need for a more modern general hospital. At the handing over ceremony of the new Accident and Emergency facility in the 90s, I asked the Honourable Colm Imbert “When will we get a general hospital?” He promised that it would be built soon.
During the tenure of the honourable prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (2010-2015), I took to protesting for a general hospital to be built in Arima. Soon after, the then finance minister Larry Howai announced in Parliament that Arima would get a new general hospital. After that announcement, to ensure that the Government did not renege on this promise, the Friends silently and peacefully protested on the first day of every month, “no burning of tyres.”
In 2015 the protest bore fruit. Mrs Kamla Persad Bissessar called me to be a part of the sod-turning event. Fortunes did not favour the UNC as they were defeated by the PNM in the general election of December 2015. The Friends kept reminding the new government that the money for the project was already budgeted through an agreement with the Republic of China and could not be diverted elsewhere. 35 years of struggle has ended and history was created on June 9, 2020, when the Honourable Prime Minister Dr Keith Christopher Rowley cut the ribbon. The new general hospital in Arima is now a reality.
On behalf of the Friends of Arima Hospital Society, we would like to thank our creator for granting and blessing the people of Arima and environs with the new state-of-the-art Arima General Hospital.
To the members of the Friends of Arima Hospital, those who are alive and those who have passed on, I would like to say thank you for your selfless support. To all the other supporters The Lions, The Rotarians, The Kiwanis, the banks, businesses and any others which I have not mentioned, I say thank you. To the people of Arima and environs, just remember this facility belongs to you, make full use and take good care of it.
Balliram Maharaj
CEO, ADM Import & Export Distributors Ltd