Africa-Press – Uganda. The slow construction of the Shs20b surgical ward at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital has been attributed to the inadequate funding by government, the facility administrators have said.
The construction of the ward, which has a 300-bed capacity and nine theatres, started in 2016 and was scheduled for completion in September in 2019.
However, the contractor, Global Networks Company Limited, allegedly abandoned the project, with works at 25 percent.
Later, the project was contracted to Zhongmei Engineering Group Limited, a Chinese company affiliated to the Coal Geological Bureau of Jiangxi Province, with the completion work currently standing at 73 percent.
Initially, the government had budgeted Shs5b for the project per financial year but the funds were slashed to Shs2b, hence the delay in the works.
The building is funded by the government under the capital development plan. Mr Patrick Akomera, the principal administrator at the referral hospital, said the project is running at a slow pace due to the limited amount of resources allocated to them.
“The major challenge we are facing is funding, that is why it’s taking us a long time to complete it,” he said.
Mr Akomera said the outbreak of Covid-19, which found the project under phase two, further delayed the completion.
He further revealed that the hospital plans to have the facility handed over to the UPDF Engineering Brigade, following a presidential directive that all capital developments in terms of construction should go under Ministry of Defence to reduce the costs.
“So, currently we are trying to develop designs for phase three so that by the time the UPDF comes to take over, they will be guided by the designs from our supervising consultant,” he said.
Upon completion, Mr Akomera hopes the hospital will solve the problem of congestion and also improve access to healthcare.
“We should be able to handle the large numbers of the patients coming in to seek for the services mostly surgical related such as accidents and other emergencies,” he said.
He added that having a bigger oxygen plant at the hospital will also enable the hospital to provide specialised care services.
BACKGROUND
The British colonial administration established Mbale Hospital 98 years ago.
The 415-bed facility serves more than 15 districts in eastern region, including Busia, Tororo, Budaka, Kibuku, Kapchorwa, Bukwo, Kween, Butaleja, Namisindwa, Manafwa, Mbale, Pallisa, Bukedea, Namutumba, Sironko, and Butebo.
The hospital boasts of structures in fairly good condition but is short on equipment and specialised personnel, and yet according to the Health ministry, the facility is one of the most staffed hospitals among the 16 regional referrals in the country.
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