Gov. Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State has vowed to punish medical doctors in the state who are collecting money from patients contrary to government’s directive on the free medical services at the health centres across the state.
Amaechi made the declaration Monday in a Town Hall meeting at Port Harcourt City Local Government Area (PHALGA) of Rivers State, as part of his meet-the-people-tour. The governor who said he is fully aware that some doctors are violating the government’s free medical service programme, warned that the perpetrators will not be spared.
The governor said he was surprised that the hospital sited at Emenike Street, Mile 1 Diobu and the Dental Hospital at Garrison are yet to be put to use months after they have been completed and equipped. Amaechi said he gave the managers of the said hospital up to January, 2013 to either open them or risk being sanctioned.
He made it clear that the state government will not hand over the management of the Rumuwoji/Mile 1 Market to Port Harcourt City Council and urged the interim committee managing the market to advertise the job for private hands to vie for the position. Amaechi was responding to the protest of the council chairman of PHALGA, Mr. Chimbiko Akarolo that the traders have refused to allow the council manage the edifice.
The governor also said it is not the responsibility of government to provide parking spaces for motorists, and urged landlords to take up that responsibility.
He also dismissed claims that Greater Port Harcourt City took all Ikwerre people’s lands, pointing out that the new mega city cuts across eight local government areas.
The governor was also hard on Refuse Contractors who he said have been collecting a whooping sum of N488m monthly for evacuating refuse, a job he said has been shabbily executed.
On taxation, Amaechi said there is no going back in collecting taxes from taxable adults, citing N8bn monthly wage bill of workers in the state as enough reason to collect taxes.
Enumerating his achievements so far in PHALGA, Amaechi said 32 primary schools have been completed, while over 100 indigenes of the local government area have received government scholarships to study in various universities overseas. He advised wealthy people to allow the indigents students whom the scholarships were meant for, to access it.
Barth Ndu
