When I was a young boy steeped in the Anglican church, I was fascinated by the story of the tower of Babel. It is a story that is often repeated to this day although it is thousands of years old.
In fact, I am not sure that anyone can find what’s left of this tower.
According to history, the tower was never completed. Of course, the construction spanned decades. It attracted numerous labourers. There is no record of whom the initial contractors were. There is no mention of cost.
This tower is said to be the world’s first skyscraper. It was intended to reach the heavens and so avoid the effect of another flood, the likes of which Noah and his household and countless animals encountered and survived.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport is heading down the same road. Its construction had its origin in an arrangement a decade ago when a Chinese Vice President passed through the region waving a bundle of cash. Guyana reached out and grabbed the airport project.
At a cost of US$138 million and some US$18 million in matching funds, the work began. There was a change in government and a corresponding change in the project.
One report stated that the Chinese had already received some 70 percent of the project cost and had only completed 36 percent of the work when the new government came to office.
There were adjustments to have the project come in at cost. Then the government changed again. There were threats and reports of sanctions if the project was not completed at the original cost.
The confusion began somewhere because the next thing people knew was that the government was putting in more money into the project. That must have been one of the confusing languages of Babel.
Then there was the expansion of the runway. It was already long enough to accommodate every available aircraft but another bout of confusion led to its further expansion. That runway is now the longest in the Caribbean. No one has explained the need for expansion.
In one language Juan Edghill said that the airport project would not go beyond this yearend. We now hear another language. The project would come to an end sometime next year.
Suffice it to say, that project may go the way of the tower of Babel, unfinished, and leaving some very rich people in its wake.
Another project that is heading down the same path is the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal. At its opening, it was touted as the facility that was long overdue—and not because of COVID-19.
Today, this structure that was intended to provide relief for the sick is now seen as the gateway to the grave. It seems to be the final stop for life on earth.
A nurse who died there about a week ago spoke of some horror situations. She was in constant contact with her relatives, giving them detailed reports on her treatment.
For starters, once one is admitted to the Liliendaal facility, one is removed from any relative. One is not allowed visits; one is alone with the medical staff.
But the facility when the nurse was there was grossly understaffed. The woman reported that there were only four nurses to cope with 64 patients. The desired situation is one nurse to three patients. The result is that patients were left needing sanitary care.
The now-dead nurse spoke of lying in her concentrated urine because the nurses could not empty the bedpans or change the patients’ diapers in time.
This now dead nurse was a diabetic but she did not have a choice of meals. She was a victim of miscommunication or non-communication.
A doctor recommended that she do a CT scan. Three days went by and the scan was not done because the staff at Liliendaal could not transport her to St Joseph Mercy Hospital.
It turned out that the nurse in charge was not aware that this patient was to undergo a CT scan.
News is coming out that 36 people died last week. That translates to about five a day. Another 30 have died this week. Unprecedented.
The medical situation is such that there is a staff shortage, caused in part by the faux pas over the COVID vaccinations. Those who die become statistics. The nation is told that they died because they were not vaccinated. But the truth is that even vaccinated people have died and are dying.
The ratio of unvaccinated deaths to vaccinations is bound to be larger because more people are unvaccinated. Before the vaccine, people were dying but at no time were the numbers as high. Something is happening.
Some people contend that there is a variant that is causing these deaths. Variants are generally weaker than the original virus. The opposite seems to be the case this time around.
The Health Minister, a year ago, said that the Liliendaal facility would undergo some renovations. Babel? Was the statement misunderstood or not understood?
It would be interesting to note how many people actually came out of the Liliendaal facility alive.
