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2009-01-12
Consultant to Health Service Development North and East, Provincial Director of Health, Government Agent of Batticaloa, hospital administrators and staff, patients, and community residents. On behalf of the U.S. Government, I am pleased to be here today to represent the Government and the people of the United States of America today as we officially start renovations on Navatkadu Hospital.
Today we mark the beginning of a series of projects that the civilian and military arms of the US Government are undertaking together to help further our goal of helping to stabilize and develop Eastern Sri Lanka to help ensure that terrorism never takes root in this region again.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is the civilian component of our effort. It is helping communities in the East return to normal by strengthening important local institutions like schools and hospitals. USAID renovates these vital buildings because healthy and productive community life depends on access to good medical care for families and quality education for children.
Over the next week, USAID will be breaking ground on eight renovation projects here in the East. In Trincomalee District, we are rehabilitating five schools, repairing damaged classrooms and building new ones so more students can attend schools in their villages. In Batticaloa District, USAID is renovating two schools and the Navatkadu Hospital.
All of these projects are funded by the U.S. Pacific Command, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, as part of its humanitarian outreach efforts to improve stability and quality of life in the region.
The U.S. Government also recognizes the importance of making medical care available locally, especially when patients need to stay in the hospital for treatment. Here at the Navatkadu Hospital in Manmunai West Division, facilities for in-patient care are extremely limited, making it difficult or impossible for community members to get the health care treatment they need close to home. To help address this need, USAID is building three new patient wards that will provide 63 beds, so local residents will receive the inpatient care they need without traveling 25 kilometers to the nearest hospital.
Originally we planned to renovate and improve two hospitals in Batticaloa District. The needs at both Navatkadu and Karadiyanaru hospitals, however, exceed the resources initially allocated for these projects. So we will start here in Navatkadu with 2008 funding, ensuring a fully functional facility in line with the latest government standards. Karadiyanaru is at the top of our list for proposed projects with for funding next year, which we are hopeful of receiving. By postponing that renovation, we can more adequately address needs at both facilities over time.
All of this work means that USAID is renovating 13 damaged classrooms and building 64 new ones in seven schools, constructing three new hospital wards, and providing 63 beds for in-patient hospital treatment. Local residents will directly benefit from these changes, and local communities will be strengthened by these improved medical and educational facilities.
One of the most effective ways to help communities return to a normal way of life is to have schools in local communities that provide children with an education that prepares them for a bright future. At the Pulipanjakal School, 700 primary school students in the western part of Kiran Division attended classes there at one time. However, the conflict caused extensive damage to the school and forced many local residents to leave. Not all of them have returned to the area just yet, but we are hopeful that with upgrades to the school, more families will come back home to rebuild their lives. USAID will construct 10 new classrooms there, and an expanded school will serve students from more then 12 primary schools in the surrounding area.
And, at Arasadithivu Vignesware Vidyalayam School in Manmunai Southwest, USAID is constructing a new two-storey building that will have 10 classrooms. And we are renovating five existing classrooms that were damaged by armed conflict and a cyclone. This is the only Advanced-Level school in the Paddipallai Division. Improving this facility will directly impact 850 students and 35 teaching staff.
Today’s ground breaking ceremony marks the beginning of some exciting changes at the hospital. I hope these changes will encourage more of your neighbors and relatives to return to the area, as the school expands and improves its services for local children. I hope these changes also will help increase stability, bring new opportunity to rebuild your lives and your communities in peace and prosperity, and help usher in an era of new hope for the Eastern region as a whole.
Thank you for having me here today. The American people wish all of you a future of peace and greater prosperity.
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