The President of the Republic of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, who is on a State Visit and the chief Guest of the Government on the occasion of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Independence of Mauritius, unveiled the foundation stone of the new state-of-the�art Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) hospital this morning in Vacoas.
The unveiling of foundation stone ceremony was held in presence of the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, and the Minister of Health and Quality of Life, Dr Anwar Husnoo, and other dignitaries.
In his address, Minister Husnoo lauded the Government of India for its unflinching support to the Government of Mauritius for the provision of financial assistance to the tune of US$500 million and a further line of credit of US$500 million for the construction of the new ENT hospital, which is a major Government project aiming to spearhead development in our country.
The Health Minister underpinned the age-old, deep ancestral, historical and cultural ties that both countries share along with strong bilateral relations and stressed that the strong collaboration between India and Mauritius will usher a new era of cooperation to weave and explore new avenues of cooperation in the future.
The conversion of the old stone wooden structure of the ENT Hospital into a new modern hospital, he said, is in line with the strategy of his Ministry to improve the quality of hospital services through the provision of upgraded, renovated and completely new infrastructure, modern equipment, technologically-based and evidenced based specialised medical services.
Dr Husnoo pointed out that a government-to-government approach has been adopted and the services of the consultancy firm Hospital Services Consultancy Cooperation India Ltd having wide experience in the implementation of important hospital projects in different parts of India, have been retained to prepare the concept, design and assist with implementation of the project.
New ENT Hospital
The project consists of demolishing the old ENT hospital to establish a state-of-the�art hospital providing world-class healthcare facility. The new ENT hospital, consisting of a hospital and administrative building, will have an overall surface area of 12,000 metre square and has a total project cost of Rs 900 million.
The implementation of the project has started on 31 January 2018 and is expected to be completed in 15 months. Demolition work has been completed while excavation work has recently started. A contract for the sum of about Rs 885M has been awarded to the Joint venture of Rama Civil India Construction Pvt Ltd and Messrs Nundun Gopee & Co Ltd.
Source: Government of Mauritius