SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri
The Center for Advocacy Transparency and Accountability Initiative (CATAI) has called on the Borno State Government to as a matter of great importance rescue the about 30,000 helpless residents of Gongulang community and complete a three years abandoned health project.
It also urged the Borno State House of Assembly to set up an Ad hoc Committee to track down or follow up funds being budgeted annually by the governement for the purpose of accountability and transparency.
The Chief Executive Officer, Muazu Abubakar Sadiq, at CATAI’s Documentary Screening of Gongulang Healthcare Facility held at Hall Mark Maiduguri in Partnership with MacArthur (MF) Foundation and Center for Information, Technology and Development ( CITAD) Wednesday, added that the issue of accountability should be the focal point of the organization not putting blames on any authority or person involved the contract award and implementation process rather to fix the problems identified by doing the needful.
CATAI is a non governmental Organization whose mission is to enhance service delivery and empower citizens embark on Outreach advocacy for Institutional reforms, capacity biulding and empowerment of citizens.
CATAI was further applauded for initiating the programme and urged to extend same to other sectors if the state especially projects that are presently abandoned or dilapidated, hence budgets have been allocated and released for such projects in the state annual budgets.
Participants and moderators at the round table panel at th documentary screening of Gongulang community healthcare facility also frowned at the laxity and discripancy in the entire health facility project in Gongulang community of Jere LGA of Borno state where it was observed that the said abandone Health Project was awarded in March/April 2018 and incorporated in the budget but uptill July 2020 the project has not been completed.
Although, the representative of the Borno State Commissioner of Health, Dr Aliyu Kwaya Bura and Borno State House of Assembly, Chairman House Committee in Accounts and Appropriations, Malam Bakura claimed the house was aware of the abandoned project through oversight functions and ensured funds were always available for it in the budget.
However, the house further claimed that security challenges and displacement of the over 39,000 residents of the community to adjoining famous community Zabbamari and surrounding communities affected the project.
The house also said it has establshed a tiipatriate committee of CSOs, Media and House on state budgets allocations and implementations apart from the existing House Committee in Public Accounts which is directly responsible to give account if ongoing and completed or abandoned projects budgeted annually by the State government.
Earlier, in a documentary screening video of Healthcare Facility in Gongulang community presentation, CATAI media team revealed the existing situation and voices as well as faces of residents and community leaders of Gongulang community for review by the 25 invited participants/stakeholders to assess and comment on if possible proffer solutions to the health insurance facility problem.
The Ministry of Health has claimed that it’s priority was the completion of ongoing and abandoned healhcare projects across the state at every Budget Defence sitting at the house whenever invited, pointing out that, all the statistics and records were available and presently forwarded to the State Commissioner for onward submission to th Govenror for appropriate action.
But CATAI had observed that the health Facility has not been completed, no electricity at the existing local dispensary, no medical doctor, only two or three staff , no ambulance, no staff quarters, no water supply system, no kitchen, no laboratory, no functional equipments, no drugs, structures dilapidated and the entire premises either isolated or abandoned
It further explained that about N5.8 billion has been budgeted for the health sector while the State Ministry of Health has-been the one handling the contract awards and supervising Ministry.
The Ministry claimed about N105 billion has been released for the project and contracts were awarded for upgrading of the health Facility in Gongulang community but only N33 million was released for the project as of date which made CATAI to declare Gongulang community Situation as Emergency Situation for prompt government attention to come to the help if the people of the area.
CATAI noted also that in cases of emergencies, lack of functional and effective standard available healthcare facility, adequate medical and health staff, ambulances, staff quarters, working tools and equipments, electricity, water sources among others, Gongulang community healthcare facility has been declared an emergency.
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