WNB to build new maternity ward

A GROUND-breaking ceremony was done in West New Britain on Wednesday to mark the construction of a maternity ward for the Bialla district hospital.
The West New Britain provincial health authority’s public health director Dr Joseph Nale said the provincial government had made the funds available but the delay in getting the project off the ground was with the public servants.
He said they have resolved their differences and the project can now proceed.
Governor Sasindran Muthuvel conducted the ground-breaking ceremony, witnessed by stakeholder representatives, including Hargy Oil Palm Company general manager Graham King, who made the commitment to build staff houses under the tax credit scheme.
Muthuvel had allocated K1.1 million from the Provincial Services Improvement Programme (PSIP) in 2015 but the project had been delayed for two years by bureaucracy.
He said Bialla deserved such services because of the big population and the economic activities generated in the area.
Muthuvel said the building of the Bialla Rural hospital was being done in stages so it could be upgraded to a district hospital,  which required more facilities to qualify.
The Bialla Rural Hospital serves people in East and Central Nakanai local level government areas, as well parts of East New Britain including Open Bay and Pomio.