Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has challenged communities to be involved in the maintenance and protection of government property in their areas.
Governor Okowa made the call Tuesday while addressing leaders of thoughts in Abavo who came out in large numbers to receive him when he inspected the construction work going on at the General Hospital, Abavo, Ika South local government area of Delta State.
According to him, it is important for the communities to protect government facilities because they are the direct beneficiaries of such facilities.
He stated that the hospital was one of his campaign promises to the people and assured the people of Abavo that the hospital will be functional.
“We made promises during our campaign and this particular hospital is very dear to my heart, it was started in 2006 when I was the Commissioner for Health but since then it has remained the way it was when we left office,” he said.
He added: “I did commit myself to the people that within three months of being in office, we would ensure that the construction work in the hospital was resumed and today, we thank God that the work is ongoing and by the grace of God, the structure will be ready by September.
“Concerning hospitals in the state, we definitely have a lot of work to do, we hope and pray that we will be able to do many other things that will bring a lot of succour to our people when we talk about the health sector,” he said.
The governor reiterated that “the most important thing we want to do in the healthcare sector is to encourage our people to embrace universal healthcare all over the state and that is going to come through the Delta State Contributory Health Insurance Scheme. The bill has gone through the second reading, it has had public hearing and we hope that the House of Assembly will pass the bill soon because that is the way to go globally and we must go through the process in Delta State.”
President General of the community, Chief Amaechi Onwuemerie, who spoke at the occasion, described Governor Okowa as God-sent and thanked him for his focused leadership style.
Chief Onwuemerie assured the governor that the community would ensure that nobody disturbed those working at the hospital.
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