Kaduna State Government is to embark on rehabilitation and equipping 6 general Hospitals out of the 32 that have not been renovated in the last 20 years in the state.
The State governor, Malam Uba Sani stated this while addressing stakeholders from the 23 local government areas of the state held at government house Kaduna.
Governor Uba Sani who lamented that, most of the hospitals were not in sound condition, said his administration had resolved to rehabilitate and equipped six of the General hospitals as first phase project, two in each of the three senatorial zones of the state.
He said the situation was making of some residents of Kaduna to travel to neighbouring states for medical care.
According to the governor, the rehabilitation of the hospitals would commence from next week Monday.
“One of major areas of our focus is the healthcare. In the last one month, I have received reports from our Deputy Governor, who is one of the most prominent, established public health specialists in Nigeria, that our 30 general hospitals in Kaduna are in delapidated condition that need urgent repair.
“Because of that, most of the patients from Kaduna have to travel to some neighboring states for medical attention. This is unacceptable. And that is why we have decided to remodel, reconstruct at least six out of the 32 general hospitals. This project will be starting by the grace of God on Monday, that is in the next few days.
Governor Uba Sani noted that the six hospitals are General Hospital Rigasa, General Hospital Maigana, General Hospital Gwantu, General Hospital Kafanchan, General Hospital Giwa and General Hospital Ikara.
Malam Uba Sani also stressed that,
due to unfortunate incident that happened in Kuriga, where about 137 children were kidnapped, they embarked on the assessment of all schools, particularly junior secondary schools and primary schools, and the result was very pathetic,
He pointed out that, Kaduna State had over 1,500 schools that need to be fenced in line with Safe School Initiative.
The Governor who disclosed that, as part of efforts to complement the government’s commitment to implementing the Safe School Initiative, two prominent Kaduna based business moguls, Alhaji Adamu Atta of Fifth Chucker and Alhaji Bukar Shettima of Barbados, are to build fences for 100 schools.
“Most of the people that spoke here talked about some of the important roads in the state that need to be completed.
On the abandoned road projects in Zaria, The governor announced that , the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Abbas Tajudeen had approached him with the promised to complete some crucial roads in Zaria that have not been completed.
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“We have also started attracting other support from development partners, the German embassy is also supporting us, African Development Bank is supporting us and the office of the Vice President only three weeks ago, intervened to support our ginger farmers who lost a lot of produce because of the epidemic that destroyed most of their farms.
“We are also partnering with other development partners to enhance agriculture value chains and support our farmers, so that they can have access to credit. Close to that, we made it clear at the inception of administration that, we would focusing on rural revitalization, that is because we believe we must construct roads in our rural communities, so that our farmers can take their produce from the farms to the market,” the Governor said.
Governor Uba Sani who also identified security as the most important area of focus for his administration applauded the Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa for establishing a military base in Kachia and promising to do same in Giwa, Lere and Birnin Gwari Local governments.
He also commended Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun for providing the state with two Armoured Personnel Carriers APCs, and 200-men Mobile Special Squad to enhance security and increase number of boots on ground.
Earlier, most of the stakeholders applauded the Uba Sani led government for its developmental strides, especially the rural revitalization projects.
The stakeholders also appealed for continuation of abandoned road projects under the previous administration’s Urban Renewal projects.
In attendance at the meeting were the Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, Speaker of the State Assembly, Dahiru Liman, APC State Chairman, Air Commodore Emmanuel Jekada (rtd), Commissioners and other cabinet members, Chairman of the 23 Local Government Areas among others.
COV/AMINU DALHATU