Delayed clinic project irks communities
Three years after former president Joyce Banda laid a foundation stone at Cape Maclear in the area of group village head Chembe in Mangochi for the construction of a maternity wing, nothing is happening on the ground.
This development prompted a local non–governmental organisation, Parent and Child Health Initiative (Pachi), to call a meeting to trace the source of the delay.
Speaking during the meeting, Mangochi Monkey Bay member of Parliament Ralph Jooma (People’s Party-PP) said the maternity wing was supposed to be financed by some foreign investors doing business at Cape Maclear.
He said: “There is a businessperson who has a clinic at Cape Maclear who promised that together with his colleagues, they would mobilise resources for the construction of the maternity wing.”
In his remarks, Traditional Authority (T/A) Nankumba advised civil society organisations, chiefs and the district council to meet the businessperson on why he was backtracking on his earlier pledge.
Commenting on the issue, Mangochi district health officer William Peno said the council plans to construct an under-five clinic in the area as government policy states that a maternity wing cannot be constructed where there is no clinic.
