Concerns over high fees at Porgera hospital

A COMMUNITY leader is questioning why people have to pay more for services at the Porgera District Hospital in Enga.
Thomson Kulara raised the issue during the review of the Porgera Mine memorandum of agreement (MoA) in Kokopo between the State and the Enga government last week.
He said local leaders and the people of Porgera and Paiela wanted the district hospital to become a State entity because “many issues are not right” there.
Kulara said his major worry was the charging of high fees and use of hospital funds.
He said these questions must be answered by the Porgera Development Authority (PDA) and the hospital management.
He claimed the hospital charged K5,000 to treat wounds, K60 to lance boils and people paid K70 for receiving normal treatment.
“Compared to government and private run hospitals these fees are much higher which ordinary people cannot afford to pay,” Kulara said.
“If the Mt Hagen Provincial Hospital could charge K10 in hospital fee, why is the Porgera District Hospital charging thousands?”
Kulara said the hospital employed too many foreign doctors and that could be the reason why fees there were so high.
 “What are all these fees for when drugs are paid for by the government and delivered to the hospital?”
He said the hospital had been built by the developer of the Porgera
mine, Barrick Gold, for the people to benefit.