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The indigenes of Mathinka Lol and its surroundings in Kholifa Mabang Chiefdom Tonkolili District have raised concerns over the calculated neglect of the new Mathinka Lol Community Health Post.
The new Community Health Post has been in cold shoulder for the past ten years since completion.
The facility among many others was constructed by the National Commission for Social Action NaCSA under the Sierra Leone Community Development SLCDD lI Project funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Sierra Leone in providing livelihood supports to poorer communities.
Explaining dissatisfactions over the said facility, the Section Chief – Marunia Section in the Kholifa Mabang Chiefdom Pa. Abdulai Sankoh said the new structure was constructed to replace the old one or expand and improve on the medical services in the Community, but the exact opposite is what the Community is experiencing because they are barely using the old structure for all medical operations.
He said six communities including the Mathinka Lol Community are the direct beneficiaries for the hospital.
The Section Chief disclosed that after completion of the construction project, NaCSA successfully handed over the facility to the community, but little or no attention has been given by the medical units to match up to their expectations.
“We were expecting doctor and more nurses to take over the new structure and deliver medical services, but up till now we don’t know what is going on”. Two Nurses can not attend to six villages at the same” Chief Sankoh said.
He pleaded with the community for the appropriate authorities to take prompt moves as the community is scarcely getting medical services as a result of this brush-off.
speaking on the conditions and challenges facing the new facility the head of the CHP (Incharged) Marian Bangura said the hospital only has two Nurses and a Community Volunteer which is very challenging considering the workloads and less work life balance.
She said having served the Community for over five years almost all the nurses posted at the Center had not shown up for duties.
“These are official postings from the District Health Management Team (DHMT) and most of the nurses posted here always come alone with their posting letters, hand it over to me, left the same day and never returned back”. Nurse Marian Said.
She further disclosed that all of these nurses are reposted somewhere else favorable to their comforts after rejecting the Mathinka Lol CHP for unknown reasons.
Nurse Marian however, stated that most of the needed equipments for the running of the facility were brought in few years ago, but the facility had not been officially operated for its intending purposes due to under-staffing.
“The facility is a mighty structure with full solar electrical panel connection operatives, but most of these equipment including the structure itself is getting outdated simply because it is not functional”. She added.
The in charged mentioned that several reports have been made to the District Health Management Team DHMT and most of the Chiefdom’s health meetings are held in this particular structure with the District Health Officers in attendance, but nothing absolutely have changed.
