17 Jul 2013

Parliament last week debated a motion calling for the fast tracking of the modernisation of Selebi Phikwe hospital.

Presenting the motion, Selebi Phikwe West MP, Mr Gilson Saleshando said the hospital was established in the late 1960s and early 1970s following establishment of BCL Mine in the area.

He said at the time, there were not medical facilities hence a certain Mr John Howard volunteered his shop fitting workshop to be used as a hospital. He said since then a little had been done save for an administration block.

The Selebi Phikwe West MP said the hospital was in a state of disrepair saying all the wards, the male, female, maternity and children wards were all in the warehouse separated only by a sheets resulting with less privacy.

Responding to the motion, Assistant Minister of Health, Mr Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri said although Selebi Phikwe hospital was in the National Development Plan 10 (NDP 10), it was not in the priority list as there were similar facilities that had to be undertaken in Kasane and Mochudi.

He said given expansion of tourism in Kasane and the dire need for a modern hospital in Mochudi, the Selebi Phikwe hospital would therefore be undertaken after these adding that it would also depend on availability of funds.

Mr Matlhabaphiri said the government took a deliberate decision to suspend construction of hospitals due to budgetary constraints in the wake of the global economic meltdown. The assistant minister further said the hospital had been provided with specialists hence patients were no longer referred to Francistown.

He further said the District Health Management Team (DHMT) had been able to decentralise some services to clinics in the mining town hence there were no longer long lines at the hospital. Mr Matlhabaphiri called for the adjournment of the motion as there was no how government could undertake the Selebi Phikwe development while others pending were pending.

However, Kgatleng East MP, Mr Gilbert Mangole said the Selebi Phikwe hospital needed urgent attention saying patients were denied their dignity due to the warehouse building.

He said as Kgatleng East MP, he did not mind if the project could be undertaken at the expense of Mochudi hospital saying the residents of Selebi Phikwe and surrounding areas needed it. Mr Mangole said the Selebi Phikwe residents had been forced to go to Francistown in order to access services.

At the end of business on Friday, parliament was still debating on whether to adjourn the motion. ENDS