Residents of Sorugu, a farming community in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region, have appealed to the municipal assembly to complete the construction of a CHPS Compound there, to enable them access healthcare services.
Residents say the absence of a health facility in the area makes it difficult for pregnant women to access antenatal services. Currently, residents travel to Malishegu, the nearest community with a health post, to access healthcare services.
The construction of the CHPS Compound, which began in 2016, stalled and has since been abandoned.
The people say the project started alongside similar projects at Malishegu and Tampe Kukuo, among others, which have since been completed and operationalised.
According to residents, even though the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has posted health personnel to the community, they come to work only once a week due to lack of infrastructure.
The health personnel usually take shelter under a tree and use benches provided by community members to render healthcare services to the people.
“The construction of the health centre was to provide us with easy access to healthcare services, but the project has since been abandoned. Health personnel have been posted to work here, and they come every Tuesday, but they sit outside because the facility is not ready for use,” the chief of Sorugu, Naa Niendoo Abukari, told The Finder.
He said several appeals to the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Iddrisu Mariam, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sagnarigu, Alhaji ABA Fuseini, have gone unheeded.
The chief and people, therefore, appealed to the assembly to expedite work on the project to operationalise the facility.
“If the authorities don’t complete the project, the structure will waste away, so we are appealing to the MCE to work on it as soon as possible to give us relief,” the chief stressed.
A resident of the community, Zakaria Rashida said travelling to other communities to access antenatal and other healthcare services was a difficult task. She said they sometimes depend on the benevolence of other road users for easy transportation to the nearest health centre.
Zakaria Busagri, another resident, said they were disappointed in the delay in the completion of the project, and also appealed to the assembly to come to their aid.
The CHPS Compound, when completed, will serve the people of Sorugu, Gumo, Bogukurugu and Salamba.
Source: The Finder
