Sat, 20 May 2017 10:52:39 +0000
By VIOLET TEMBO
KANIKI ward councillor Simataa Akapelwa has appealed to Chifubu area Member of Parliament Frank N’gambi to lobby resources from Government for construction of a mortuary in the area.
Speaking when the parliamentarian visited the ward during his tour of various projects, Mr. Akapelwa regretted that residents were forced to take bodies of people who died in the area to Ndola Teaching Hospital.
“Whenever there is a bereavement residents are forced to cover the 20 km distance to take the bodies to the mortuary at Ndola Teaching Hospital. And when burial date is set, again they have to cover a similar distance.
‘‘Transport is a major challenge in this area. It is quite inconveniencing and it is only their right that such facilities are within the locality,’’ said Mr Akapelwa.
‘‘We have a project at Kaniki clinic underway whose finances for construction of the new maternity wing are coming from the European Union and being facilitated by UNICEF. My plea on behalf of the community is that consideration be made that even a mortuary be put up at the facility,” he said.
Mr Akapelwa also asked the Chifubu parliamentarian to lobby for the rehabilitation of the Ndola-Mufulira road.
Meanwhile, Kaniki clinic sister-in-charge Bernadette Mwamba has appealed to Government to quickly work on the Ndola-Mufuliria road which she described as being impassable.
She said due to the bad state of the road, most pregnant women and babies faced a challenge in accessing the health centre.
She narrated that an ambulance usually took about 45 minutes to get to the facility whenever it was called for an emergency case which mostly has to deal with pregnant women who are usually referred to Ndola Teaching Hospital for attention.
And Mr Ng’ambi said he had engaged the Ministry of Health to send a resident doctor to Kaniki clinic.
Mr Ng’ambi has also commended Mr Akapelwa, a UPND ward councillor, for putting the interest of the people first.
He said time for politics was over and now it was to work on the campaign promises.
Mr Ng’ambi said this when he inspected works on the European Union and UNICEF-funded project on the expansion of Kaniki clinic.
‘‘I’m happy with Councillor Simataa; this is what it should be. Politics is over and people want development. We need to put our heads together and deliver the campaign promises,” the MP said.
Construction of a new maternity wing at kaniki clinic in Ndola’s Chifubu constituency will cost K2 million and is funded by the European Union and UNCEF.
