Panaji MLA Babush Monserrate should publicly acknowledge that despite being in the ruling party and a minister too, he has miserably failed to ensure that Goa’s historic old Ribandar hospital was preserved for our people and not given away needlessly to a Tamil Nadu company for an Ayurvedic research centre. Two years ago he had solemnly promised that the medical facilities at the old Ribandar hospital would be restored hook or by crook but as expected has reneged on that assurance. This is why people have stopped trusting politicians on account of such fake and dubious promises.
Monserrate’s now belated statement that medical facilities would be eventually provided for the residents of Ribandar on the second floor of the old Ribandar hospital is another joke. ICU and other critical facilities have to be made accessible on the ground floor as was done for ages at this old Ribandar hospital. On the contrary, a research centre can be set up on any floor. The Panaji MLA’s U-turn on this issue comes as no surprise as he is a proven master of such gimmicks.
