The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, launched, this afternoon, an Oxygen Generation Plant (OGP) during an official ceremony held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Rose Belle. This OGP is a donation of Larsen and Toubro (L&T), through its ‘We care for you’ initiative, to the Mauritian Government.
The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, the Indian High Commissioner to Mauritius, Mrs K. Nandini Singla, the Chief Government Whip, Mrs Naveena Ramyad, the Parliamentary Private Secretary, Mrs Teenah Jutton, and other personalities were present at the launching ceremony.
In his address, Minister Jagutpal commended L&T for this initiative, as well as Minister Ganoo and the Indian High Commission for their involvement in this project. He highlighted that this is the second OGP from L&T which is being launched, following the one at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital in Pamplemousses.
Dr Jagutpal underlined that medical oxygen is not only important for treatment of patients suffering from COVID-19, but is also widely used in hospitals, be it in surgery blocks and in Intensive Care Units. He observed that the setting-up of such an OGP will certainly be beneficial for the day-to-day hospital operations. The newly installed OGP, he added, uses the latest technologies and can produce 500 litres of oxygen per minute.
He also indicated that the OGP will be maintained by L&T for the first two years, before being handed over to officers of his Ministry, who would have received proper training, for future maintenance.
For his part, Minister Ganoo underscored that the launching of this OGP demonstrates the good relations between the private sector of India, through Larsen and Toubro and Mauritius. He pointed out that L&T has already implemented such projects in different regions in India following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also acknowledged that the two OGPs in Mauritius will be beneficial to hospitals as well as needy patients.
He also seized this opportunity to commend L&T, the High Commissioner of India, and the Indian Government for their constant support to the people of Mauritius.
As for High Commissioner Singla, she recalled how Mauritius and India joined hands in trying times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and similarly how Mauritius sent several oxygen concentrators to India when the latter was in need. Likewise, she stated, the Indian Government stood by Mauritius and sent the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines even before the people in India got vaccinated.
She also remarked that a ten-member medical team from India is currently visiting hospitals in Mauritius to determine how Mauritius can prepare itself against the Omicron variant and future COVID-19 variants that emerge. She added that today’s ceremony is another demonstration of the brotherly ties between Mauritius and India and that the OGP can supply oxygen to some 50 patients at any time.
