Work At Karibi Whyte Specialist Hospital Too Slow – Parker

The Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr  Sampson Parker has expressed displeasure over the slow pace and level of work done at the Karibi Whyte Specialist Hospital, Port Harcourt.

The Commissioner stated this during an inspection tour of health facilities in the state,  “government is not happy with the slow pace of work, that is why I have come to ascertain what the problem is. They are showing me pilings, that’s not the hospital, it is the hospital I want to see,” the Commissioner said.  

On his alleged arrest and detention over the Hospital, the Commissioner explained that he was not arrested “on  any account”. He stated that the police were brought in when the peace of work at the Karibi Whyte Hospital became very worrisome.

Through the intervention of the police, the state has a written undertaking from the contractors to deliver the hospital by August 2011.”

He however, expressed delight with the work at the Obuama and Sama Primary Healthcare Centre in Degema and Asari-Toru Local Government Areas, respectively.

According to him, “all things being equal, and if the millennium Development Goals implementing partners do their part the centers would become functional as soon as they are handed over to the government by the end of March this year.”

He expressed, though, that much has not been done in the riverine areas due to the terrain, to restating government’s determination to site a Primary Healthcare center in each community, and within 30 minutes walk of every home in the state.

The chairman, Project Monitoring in charge of the Health facilities, Mr Orom Erefurukuma, who was on the inspection team, expressed satisfaction as the quality and pace of work at the Obuama and Sama health centres, “we are satisfied with the quality and pace of work, considering that the contractor had only been on site for four mouths”, he said.

Erefurukuma continued that the work at Obuama was 90 percent complete, while that of Sama was 75 percent complete, saying that they are expected to take delivery by the end of March, 2010.

Meanwhile, at the Karibi whyte Hospital, the purchasing Manager of the contracting firm, Mr Sam Bahre, who conducted the team round the facility, said, “so far, 340 pilings have been done.” The Project manager was not on site.