Facility to be completed this year, says Molumi

By LULU MARK
THE modern cancer facility under construction at the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year, the hospital’s chief executive officer Dr Paki Molumi says.
He said the project, one of the biggest the hospital had embarked on despite the challenges of the Covid-19, had seen a lot of progress.
“In December, we completed the last pour (of concrete) for the roof of the cancer bunker,” he said.
“Currently, we are monitoring the temperature of the concrete that was poured through our quality control team in Australia.
“They were not able to come because of the Covid-19 but we have set up cameras which allow for regular supervision.
“We have temperature probes set up everywhere and the bunker is covered.
“If the team in Australia said it’s too hot, more foam is added to cover it and removed if it is too cold.
“That has been going on for two weeks.”
Dr Molumi said this was critical because the concrete for the bunkers that would house the linear accelerator machines had to dry at a certain temperature so that there was no gap.
He said if gaps were found, radiation would leak out.
“We are building a modern cancer facility just like the ones in Singapore, Australia and other developed countries, hence, all the standards have to be met.
“So we completed the bunker and the next step is to look at the structures.
“To be a complete comprehensive cancer centre, we need K50 million, (and) hopefully we get more funding (this year).”
Dr Molumi said they were still waiting for last year’s K2 million and according to the 2021 Budget, K10 million was allocated for the cancer project.