Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 9th June 2023
In a concerning turn of events, two out of three ambulances, which were flagged off by Mr. Keshav Chandra, Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, on 8th February 2023, are still gathering dust at Kamorta. While the designated ambulance for Kamorta is being utilized, the vehicles intended to serve the Islands of Katchal and Teressa have not been deployed yet.
Four months have passed since the flag-off ceremony, yet the ambulances remain stranded at Kamorta due to the lack of arrangements for their transportation. Local residents claim that numerous government and private ships capable of carrying the ambulances to Katchal and Teressa were available during this period. However, the authorities have neglected to facilitate their transfer, leaving the vehicles idle.
Concerns are mounting among the residents, who fear that these essential emergency assets will deteriorate without ever being put to use. The Directorate of Health Services, responsible for overseeing the transportation, appears indifferent to the urgency of the situation, prompting questions regarding the purpose of procuring assets that cannot effectively enhance healthcare facilities for the Island’s residents.
It is worth noting that the ambulances were promptly transported to Kamorta for the flag-off ceremony, but it seems that once the photo-op was over and the images were published on the front page of the Official Mouthpiece of the Administration, the officials lost sight of the primary objective behind acquiring the ambulances – serving the common man.
Local residents are calling on the authorities to rectify this negligence promptly, ensuring that the ambulances are promptly transported and put into service on the designated Islands. Delaying their deployment only hampers efforts to provide better healthcare facilities to the residents, undermining the very purpose of procuring these assets in the first place.