Africa-Press – Eswatini. Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg has disclosed that government has set aside E30 million for The Luke Commission in the budget for the financial year 2024/2025.
The minister revealed this last Thursday during the budget debate in the House of Assembly. This was after several Members of Parliament (MPs) asked what the government was doing in assisting the troubled hospital which is helpful to Emaswati.
TLC has significantly reduced the services it gives to members of the public and this has been attributed to financial challenges facing the non-governmental organisation (NGO).
The minister said the money has been put under Head 60 and he noted that a number of MPs had raised the issue of TLC.
One of the MPs who raised the issue was Sigwe MP David Ngcamphalala. He said he went to TLC in the past few weeks where 390 elderly persons received eye surgery from all over the country.
“We ask that the house finds it important for TLC to be supported,” he said.
MP Marwick Khumalo said hospitals in the country were inhabitable as they were dilapidated ad without medication.
“I can tell you, we are going to close The Luke Commission because the same government institutions recommend that people go to TLC,” he said. Khumalo said there were many numbers and the people at TLC are saying they had donor funds, but what they are dealing with is not what they are used to as people are referred to them.
“It could be a mistake to hear someone say TLC is something for Neal. The people who are there, how is Neal involved with them as they are from our constituencies,” he said.
Khumalo said you would find 700 people getting eye surgery. He said they should be realistic in dealing with such issues. Rijkenberg said the minister of health had instituted a team to look into how government can better help the TLC. He said under Head 60, E30 million has been allocated for the TLC. He further said that the finance portfolio committee advised them to set aside more for TLC.
“There is some money to see what we can do to try to support TLC. We agree that the impact they have on the people is significant,” he said.
Head 60 is for Central Transfers and it provides for non-statutory payments in discharge of commitments which do not fall under the ambits of any sector. The 2024/2025 budget estimates shows that E2.158 billion has been allocated to Head 60 under the recurrent budget.
The ministry of health last month set a strict two weeks’ timeline to mobilise funding of at least E60 million to rescue TLC from its financial woes. The two weeks is up this week. The Minister of Health, Mduduzi Matsebula, appointed a committee, where he serves as chairperson which is expected to produce the desired results within a short period of time because TLC needs quick solutions at the soonest time possible.
This comes as the TLC has been forced to significantly scale down its services due to the financial challenges. The hospital, which provides healthcare at no cost to patients and reimburses those using public transport, last year revealed that it had over 217 363 outpatient visits and projected these to increase to 337 420 this year.
TLC in December also stated that it regrettably had to lay-off some of its staff while others, were allowed to take a leave of absence as the hospital continued to face financial challenges.
The institution previously relied on the generosity of private donors, gift in kind donors, foundations organisations and government partners supply resources for its mission and explained that the outpatient visits versus the funding they received, they were fast headed to a challenge where they would find themselves failing to serve Emaswati in dire need of medical care.
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