The construction of a new maternity ward at the Porgera Urban Health Centre in Enga will now eradicate the dilemma expectant mothers go through by travelling hundreds of kilometers to deliver in Wabag.
The construction has been welcomed by Health Extension Officer (HEO) in charge of the clinic, Jerry Maku, and his staff who received building materials late last month from Porgera Joint Venture (PJV).
“A lot of mothers come here to deliver but we don’t have a delivery area. I am thankful the management heard about my request and came in a fast way,” a very appreciative Maku said.
Maku is also the health officer for Porgera district, including the Paiela sub-district.
He highlighted the daily hardships at the clinic when the Paiam Hospital closed its doors to the general public.
“This small clinic is overloaded with patients. We treat a lot of patients and also send them to Wabag but it’s far away.
“I am very happy for the assistance. You help me construct a delivery ward. By doing this we are helping the community,” he said.
The advantage of this donation is the partnership where the company supplied the building materials and the government agencies provide the skilled labour for construction.
PJV Community Relations and Engagement Alternate Manager, Meck Minnala, said on behalf of the company that they had to act quickly because mothers and children were at risk, and added they understood the stress when the Paiam Hospital closed.
He urged the Porgera/Paiela communities and the people of Porgera to look after the services.
“The people that come to deliver services such as health workers…they have to go through the extra stress trying to juggle between their duty of care to patients and then working with limited resources.”
Building materials donated by PJV include: Sawn timber, paints, a 9,000L Tuffa tank, roofing iron, plywood, bags of cement, ridge caps, gutter, nails and louvre blades as well as other building-associated materials.
Picture: Minnala (left) and Maku concluding the delivery of the donation as the clinic staff and PJV team look on.