The Cross River State Government has intensified efforts to bridge healthcare infrastructure gaps in rural communities with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of an abandoned primary healthcare facility in Egbe Mbube, Ogoja Local Government Area.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, PhD, who led an oversight delegation to inspect the facility, weekend, said the intervention was part of Governor Bassey Edet Otu’s administration’s commitment to expanding access to quality and functional healthcare services at the grassroots.
Dr. Ayuk said the facility had been abandoned before the Otu administration assumed office, leaving the large Egbe Mbube community without a functional health facility.
“We are at the site of a primary healthcare facility that is being completed for use in Egbe Mbube community. This was an abandoned facility before His Excellency came on board. It was bothersome that a big community like Egbe Mbube does not have a health facility,” he said.
He explained that work on the facility commenced about eight weeks ago under the auspices of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, expressing confidence that the project would be completed within the next one or two weeks.
According to him, the intervention demonstrates the administration’s determination to address critical healthcare infrastructure deficits and ensure that residents of rural communities have access to essential health services close to their homes.
The solar-powered facility features completed wards, an accident and emergency unit, administrative offices, male and female wards and modern sanitation facilities.
The Supervisor for Health, Ogoja Local Government Council, Hon. David Udama, said regular monitoring had helped sustain the pace and quality of work on the project.
Udama said he visits the facility almost weekly to monitor the progress of construction and ensure that the work conforms to the required standards, putting the level of completion at about 85 per cent.
“I am here in the company of the Commissioner for Health, who has come to see the level of work for himself. I keep reporting to him how far the job is going because I visit this place almost every other week to make sure that the job that is done here is accurate and of quality,” he said.
He expressed optimism that the project would be completed within the next few days, commending Governor Otu and his deputy for facilitating the intervention.
The project engineer, Mr. Agan Obri, said high-grade construction materials were being used to ensure the durability, safety and long-term functionality of the facility.
Obri noted that the project was particularly significant because it addresses a major infrastructure deficit in Egbe Mbube, which he identified as the second most populated community in Ogoja Local Government Area.
Also speaking, the Officer-in-Charge of the Egbe Health Centre, Mrs. Comfort Asikima, expressed appreciation to the state government for the intervention, saying the new facility would transform healthcare delivery in the community.
Asikima said health workers and residents were particularly relieved that the community would soon move from the cramped temporary facility currently being used into a modern permanent structure capable of providing improved healthcare services.
By Kingsley Agim
