Call for Govt to help Hela’s services

THE Government should address health and education issues in the Hela region to avoid further problems, when it becomes a province in 2012, to major developments in the region, Health secretary Dr Clement said.
“The Government must set up and improve basic services like health and education before actually running its own affairs as a province after 2012.
“Health and education are the basics of any development and the Government must prepare to have the basics service in place first. If we do not address health and education woes in Hela, then it’s going to be a big problem,” Dr Malau said at the district administrators and district health managers workshop in Madang last Wednesday.
He said Hela needed a healthy and educated workforce to enable it to take an active role in major developments in the region to avoid or create conflicts.
On another matter, Dr Malau said the responsibilities and functions of the Tari Hospital had not been decentralised to the new province.
“The hospital is still under the provincial government and not the National Government. All fundings to the hospital is under the auspices of the Southern Highlands provincial government.
“The Southern Highlands provincial government has a huge sum of money to spend and should fund the hospital and improve delivery of better and quality health service to the people in preparation for the province,” he said.
Dr Malau said he had advised medical superintendent of Mendi Hospital Joseph Turian and provincial health adviser Thomas Anda to help the hospital.
“It cannot be called a hospital until a hospital board is in place.”