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Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, on Monday, performed the groundbreaking for the reconstruction of the dilapidated Okpuala Ngwa General Hospital in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area of the state.
In a speech at the ceremony, Mr Otti said the project would help to restore quality healthcare services to the area.
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He described the hospital as one with historical significance to the people of the old Eastern Ngwa and Abia at large.
He said the Abia founding fathers did their best to maintain public health facilities that served the people, but expressed displeasure that their efforts were not consolidated with the facilities abandoned to depreciate.
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“In the olden days, this used to be a major hospital in the whole of Abia and the then Eastern Ngwa area.
“If our forefathers, with limited resources, were able to maintain hospitals like this, it is a shame that we all failed in our time with all the technology, education and money.
“That’s why I insisted that I have to perform the foundation laying ceremony,” the governor said.
He also said that the project was part of his administration’s efforts to rebuild and reposition the healthcare sector across the state.
He disclosed that general hospitals in Arochukwu and Obingwa LGAs had been completed and ready for inauguration.
Mr Otti said the Okpuala Ngwa facility received special attention because of its strategic importance and assured that the project would be completed within record time.
He also said that portions of the hospital land, allegedly acquired illegally, had been recovered by the government.
“I want to sound a note of warning that every land belongs to the state, so those who want to head to court, we will wait for them in court.
“You cannot steal government property and be pretending to be a big man.
“So, we have taken back our land, and this hospital, like the commissioner has told us, is going to be a state-of-the-art facility and we have a budget for it.
“We already have awarded it and the job has started. So, there is no story, it will be done in record time,” Mr Otti said.
Planned facilities for the hospital
Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Enoch Uche, said the project aligned with the governor’s vision of ensuring access to quality healthcare services in all the 17 LGAs.
He said: “Your Excellency, the healthcare transformation that is being championed by your visionary leadership is on course.
“Today, we are here to witness the ground-breaking for the Okpuala Ngwa General Hospital, which is one of the general hospitals that you gave directive to the Ministry of Health to ensure is built.
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“This is to ensure that every LGA will have a general hospital to serve the healthcare needs of the people.”
Mr Uche also said the facility would be a 100-bed hospital, equipped with maternity wards, male and female surgical wards, a general outpatient department, and theatres for obstetric and general surgeries, diagnostic laboratories and radiology units.
According to him, the hospital will also have an accident and emergency unit, children’s ward, blood bank and ambulance services.
He said that eight general hospitals were currently under construction in the state, while five secondary healthcare facilities had already become functional.
(NAN)
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