Karonga Community wants good road, health facility
Five group village heads from Mpata in Traditional Authority Kyungu in Karonga on Monday thronged the district council offices to deliver a petition over delays to complete an out-patient department (OPD) at Mpata Health Centre.
The community leaders also want government to upgrade Kambwe-Silu Road.
from Mwasongwe
Reads the petition in part: “Mpata Health Centre is one of the facilities which has been neglected for so long. The facility was established in 1931, but it is being denied an opportunity to grow.
“For example, after the earthquake in 2009 which damaged the OPD, there was an organisation that wanted to help, but the council refused.
“In 2013, central government funded the project, but the contractor vanished at foundation level. We are giving the council 14 working days to give us answers as to why it is not on the list of health facilities on a rehabilitation programme.”
In an interview, the group’s representative Joseph Mwasongwe said they found it hard to understand why the council was reportedly neglecting the facility.
He said: “We are being neglected as if people there don’t pay taxes.
“We are saying that the delay to complete the OPD is affecting people’s access to healthcare services. We also ask the council to rehabilitate the Kambwe-Silu Road to ease communication to health facilities and markets. The road has been funded for two consecutive financial years through Constituency Development Fund, but there is no progress.”
Speaking after receiving the petition, the district commissioner’s (DC) representative Martin Mkandawire assured the petitioners that their grievances will be delivered to the DC.
One of the community members from Mpata, Sphiwe Ndovi, said the delay to complete the OPD was a human rights rights violation as people were travelling long distances to hospital.
Mpata Health Centre serves about 25 000 people
