New Hospital For Kambia

The President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, officially opened the newly rehabilitated Government Hospital in Kambia on Thursday 3rd June, 2004.

The hospital which was destroyed in 1995 during the country's decade-long conflict was reconstructed with funds provided by the European Commission.

President Kabbah recieving the keys to the hospital from European Commission Head of Delegation Jean Tunnacliffe	President Kabbah with Mrs Agnes Taylor Lewis, Minister of Health

Welcoming guests at the ceremony in Kambia Town, the Paramount Chief of Magbema chiefdom, Bai Farama Tass Bubu Ngbalc II described the occasion as very important for the people of Kabbah and praised the EU for undertaking the project. He said it was important to note that the old hospital was built by the SLPP government in 1954 and after its destruction, the current SLPP government has again decided to rebuild and modernise it, for which he commended President Kabbah.

PC Farama Tass appealed to government for the establishment of a training school for nurses in the regions, noting that those trained in the western area are refusing to work in the provinces. He also called for the provision of ambulance and utility vehicles for the hospital.

The front view of the hospital	The side view of the hospital

The head of Delegation of the European Commission in Sierra Leone, Jean Tunnacliffe paid tribute to the EC finance rehabilitation and resettlement project and their counterparts in the Ministry of Health and the National Authorizing office, for supervising and ensuring the timely completion of the project.

The operating teather	One of the female wards

 

The President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, in his address said hospitals are very important and that those who work in hospitals are very special people to whom all must be grateful. He said until its destruction in 1995, the Kambia government hospital was the main hospital in the district and supported forty-three peripheral health facilities. With the end of the war, he said, government made the reconstruction of the hospital one of its priorities. He said the District Health Medical Board has the responsibility to see to it that drugs provided reach the people and seek the welfare of workers by transmitting their constraints to the central government.

European Commission Rep. Jean Tunnacliffe	Hospital Staff and members of the public

President Kabbah commended the Cheltenham Group in the UK for supporting the health sector in Kambia over the years and hoped they will continue. He also praised MSF Holland for the good work they have been doing in the country over the years.

The drug store	One of the Staff quarters of the hospital

President Kabbah also thanked the European Union for providing funds for the construction of the road from Rogbere Junction to the border with Guinea as part of the Trans West African Highway. He said that the road will pass through Kambia and thereby benefit the people of the area. The contract, he said, had already been signed and that work would commence after the rainy season, by October to November.