Aid post and new staff house to reopen

A NEW aid post at Ranara in Nahu-Rawa, Rai Coast, Madang, has given a new lease of life to the 21 ward areas.
This is after health services in the area were closed for 12 years due to sorcery-related killings which caused workers to leave.
Community health chairman Thom Muser said the Tauta health centre in the interior was closed first, followed by aid posts at Ranara, Gomomu, Niningo, Moro, Butemu, Munambe and Wosembo.
The two church-run health agencies in operations are Gumbrami (Lutheran) and Durukop (Evangelical Brotherhood Church) further inland.
“Our priority is health because severe cases of pregnant women, children, preventable diseases, were hardly transported to Ramu, Walium or Madang due to bad road conditions,” Muser said.
He said the Boroki and Angrimba villagers agreed to work in collaboration with the New Britain Palm Oil Ltd’s one-hour principle partnership (OHPP) programme to restore health.
Ramu Agri Industries Ltd (Rail) construction project superintendent, Ryan Nawi, led locals to demolish the old aid post built in 1984.
This paved the way for the construction of a new, permanent aid post facility and a three-bedroom staff house. Muser said former Rai Coast MP James Gau, allocated with K50,000 for a new aid post in 2015.
The community approached Rail with the money to seek additional assistance.
“The 461 people in Boroki and Angrimba were determined to restore health services,” Muser said.
Rail sustainable manager Laszlo Mathe and community engagement manager-sustainability Melinda Thom invested the K50,000 into the NBPOL Foundation.
Thom said after four years, the NBPOL Foundation, through its OHPP programme, assisted to build a staff house worth K157,000 and the aid post.