Centre needs help

 BY FRANCIS POKA

THE Hewa-Duna rural Health Centre in remote Koroba-Kopiako,   Hela, is in need of renovation and is asking the provincial government for funding.

Chairman Johnson Piwa Angoma said the health centre, which served more than 20,000 people living in the remote part of Koroba-Kopiako, needed funding to keep it open.

He said it needed renovation and upgrading so that people could get better medical services. In particular a proper maternity unit could help women during delivery have a better chance of survival.

Angoma said an antenatal clinic and 24-hour staffing were also essential.

He said the number of patients was increasing every day and the current staff was struggling to cope with that. 

He said some of their employees had left to work in the liquefied and natural gas projects. 

Angoma said Governor Anderson Agiru had promised to renovate the health centre but so far nothing had been done.

He said the wait has been going on for quite a while now as people lost their lives due to the lack of proper health care.

Angoma said Hela MP Philip Undialu had promised to repair the health facility. 

“The Government is focusing on improving better health services in the country but local MPs are 

ignoring the lives of the many people living in the rural areas,” he said. 

No comments could be obtained from both MPs.