By Maxwell Kudzala, MANA
Government said it will resume the construction of Kanyenga Community Hospital which was abandoned in 2015 after it withdrew the contractor from the site due to some legal matters.
Minister of Health, Japie Mhango, announced this Saturday when he visited the site accompanied by the Minister of Transport and public Works, Ralph Jooma, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mangochi Monkey Bay where the healthy facility site is located.
He assured people from the surrounding areas that all was now set and that the construction would begin as soon as June
“I am here to assure you that the project’s financing is secured and this time it’s under donor health joint fund unlike before when the project was being funded by the ministry; so from June this year we’re resuming the construction of the health facility,” Mhango said.
The construction of Kanyenga Community Hospital started in 2011 but it was put to a halt in 2015 following the Ministry’s decision to withdraw the contractor from the site.
In an interview with Mana on the resumption of the construction works, the Minister said it was part of government’s efforts to fulfill Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030 to ensure strong primary health care; the provision of essential health services at the community level; and strengthened health services.
“It’s the President’s vision to institute health centres in each and every part of the country so that Malawians should stop travelling long distances in seeking public medical health care,” Mhango said.
He added, “This is what United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) envisage in the vision 2030 for the Universal Health Coverage and this project is another step towards that goal.”
Mangochi Monkey Bay legislator, Ralph Jooma, said he had already started renovating road networks around the health facility area as a way of welcoming the project.
He hailed the resumption of the project saying it would help thousands of Malawians in the area who walk more than 40 kilometres to access public health services.
“People from this part of my constituency travel a long distance to Monkey Bay Health Centre which is 40 kilometres away, and also to Mangochi District Hospital which is very far,” Jooma explained.
He pointed out that, “The other facilities nearby are Koche and Nkope but they are not free of charge so this facility will be very ideal.”
Director of Planning and Policy Development in the Ministry of Health, Kate Langwe said the Ministry was at a final stage of identifying a new contractor to finish the job.
She said the first contractor was withdrawn from the project after the Ministry found out that some of the papers the contractor possessed were not legal and that the matter was resolved in courts in 2019.
Kanyenga Health Centre is expected to comprise facilities such as; out-patient department (OPD, laboratory, maternity wing, mortuary and five staff houses. ogle.�x>݆0
