Poet Against Child Abuse (PACA), Commends Governor Chibuike Amaechi For His Initiative To Adopting The Proposal For A School of Medicine In RUST, A Proposal By The Rivers State Action Congress (RSAC) Since March, 2009

By Odimegwu Onwumere

On Monday, March 30, 2009, 8:57:54 PM, when the Chairman of the Action Congress (AC) party, Rivers State Chapter, Hon Suage Badey called on Governor Amaechi's administration to begin the process of setting up a committee mandated to look into the setting up of a transitional institution that should replace the present site of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nkpolu, Port Harcourt(RSUST), among other people, one George Kerley replied Badey via the email and thanked the astitute Badey thus: “This is a brilliant piece of work! Your announcement this morning concerning the deployment of construction operations during night time is also wonderful. It won a lot of commendations. I am most impressed”.


Today, what Mr. Badey saw and asked the government for it is about to take effect, as the Rivers State House of Assembly, we learnt, is poised to pass a bill on the new medical scheme in the university following Mr. Badey's foresight. We at PACA commend the governor for this imperative employment.


Mr. Badey, who is also a member of the 10th Governing Council of the University, said in his comment in March that it was absolutely necessary as the government is concluding arrangements for the construction and movement of the university to a more conducive site with modern facilities that would compete favorably with other institutions of higher learning across the globe.


In his remark, Mr. Badey made reference to the Karibi Whyte Hospital that was initially sited at the old University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), which led to its demolition but was later abandoned for lack of adequate space to house the ultra modern hospital that would serve as a hub for the health needs of the entire West African Sub Region.


In his word: “I commend the government for a well thought-out plan of action to arrest the health sector in order to stop the unnecessary movement of our people to other shores when we have the resources and know how to tackle our health needs. The lack of a thorough plan of action is what led to the hasty demolition without proper analysis of the space required for the project. This would have saved a lot of cost as the old UPTH should have only undergone renovation to accommodate a standard general hospital for the people of Rivers State. With such a hospital as gargantuan as the proposed Karibi Whyte Hospital which is supposed to meet the modern health delivery standards of the west; it must have an institution that would readily provide the needed manpower to sustain it hence this believe that a transitional institution with particular emphasis on a school of medicine with all its related courses such as Pharmacy, Nursing, Micro-biology, Biochemistry, Optometry, Radigraphy, Dentistry etc, be put in place to take over from the Nkpolu Campus not only to save the infrastructure from possible decay for lack of use but also to provide the needed manpower and skills for Rivers people that would feed the proposed Karibi Whyte Hospital”. PACA is very joyeous.


In line with Badey's commendation of the Amaechi administration, PPACA in line wish to commend the governor for being focused in its desire to uplift the living standards of the people through the various developmental projects going on. Such as roads, primary and post primary schools, health centres; but however, Badey cautioned that the road projects which he agrees requires a radical approach to fix them due to the rainy season closing in should be carried on mostly at night when productivity is at its lowest.


In Badey's words: “The construction of too many roads, in the same area, at the same period, is adding to the traffic congestion, being presently experienced, and iit is frustrating in the city of Port Harcourt”.


Badey once then advised that in as much as the people would like to be relieved of the problems of bad roads the approach to save them from this hazard must be strategic. “The productivity of residents of Port Harcourt environs has dwindled considerably due to traffic congestions resulting from too many construction works going on at the same time. This is not in the interest of an economic advancement of the state. Industrialist and small scale businesses can not be blamed for inability to meet their tax paying obligations in an environment that discourages optimum productivity”. Badey then argued that, this is not economically well-considered for the state.


Odimegwu Onwumere, is the Founder of Poet Against Child Abuse (PACA), Rivers State. Email: [email protected]

Development / Accra / Ghana / Africa / Modernghana.com