•Assures New Facility To Address Mental Health Challenges
•Says Projects To Be Ready In Eight Months
by Emmanuel Abi Couson
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has assured that his administration is poised to deliver the first General Hospital in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area within the next eight months.
The Governor said, having prioritised health concerns as one of the four focused areas of his administration, he noticed the absence of a General Hospital facility in the area, and decided to make it available so that the people can access the derivable services
.
He also assured that a world-class Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital to address the mental health challenges of patients will be delivered to replace the old facility in the State.
Governor Fubara made the promise while speaking with newsmen shortly after inspecting the projects’ sites within the premises of the old Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Rumuigbo Community, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area on Tuesday evening.
The Governor was accompanied by the Chairman of Monier Construction Company, Senator John Azuta Mbata; and Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Barrister Elloka Tasie-Amadi.
Governor Fubara said: “We are doing two projects here: first is the model Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, and the second one is a new General Hospital.
“This General Hospital is taking care of, in fact, I can say that in Obio/Akpor as a Local Government Area, there is no General Hospital. So, we are building a standard General Hospital for residents of Obio/Akpor LGA here.
“These are what we have come to see, and I can tell you that I am impressed with what is happening here. It is not up to one month that this job was awarded, and you can see the extent of work that is going on.
“I am very optimistic that as part of our promise to our people, healthcare as one of the priority things (areas), we are going to deliver this project in the next eight months.”
Governor Fubara recalled that a few months ago, he had visited the premises to inspect an ongoing project geared towards achieving an expansion of the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital.
He explained that it was then, he decided that the facility was below standard and needed urgent upgrade to bring it up to speed with current realities in the mental health subsector.
He emphasised: “You know this place as our old Psychiatric Hospital. We decided to build a Modern Psychiatric Hospital, knowing fully well the problem that we have today in the society: mental illnesses.
“So, the facility we are putting on ground here is a world-class facility that would take care of these challenges,” adding that the facility will effectively manage issues relating to neurotic and psychotic influences in the society.
The Governor assured that the State Government will remain focused on delivering quality and comprehensive healthcare facilities and services to guarantee the good health of the people of the State, who he said, deserve the best from the Government.
He noted that in keeping with the Rivers First mantra of his administration, no amount of investment in critical infrastructure to provide much-needed services to the people would be too much to bear, and assured that the State Government under his watch, will not disappoint the people.
During the inspection, a large crowd of residents of Rumuigbo Community, including children, young adults, old men and women, thronged the premises of the health facility, singing various praise songs, dancing and celebrating the good works of the Governor in the area and across the State.
