By Binta Jaiteh
The Lawmaker for Serrekunda, Musa Cham, has said that people are unable to access Serrekunda Health Centre due to blockades by market vendors.
during the question for oral answers, Hon. Cham asked the Minister of Health Momodou Lamin Samateh, whether the Ministry of Health is aware of the blockade caused by market vendors preventing people from accessing the Serekunda Health Center.
“A lot of pregnant women, and other patients who are in critical conditions lost their lives while trying to get access to the health center,” he claimed.
Responding to the question raised, Minster Samateh admitted that the Ministry is aware of the unfortunate blockade caused by market vendors at the Serrekunda Health Centre. “This not only prevented people from getting access to the center but also impeded access to ambulances. We have made several engagements with KMC to resolve the situation but the matter is still unresolved because the vendors keep coming back anytime, they are asked to leave,” Minister Samateh frowned.
Cham further elaborated that since the Ministry has engaged KMC on the matter, the engagement has not yielded the required result. He urged the Minister to engage the paramilitary and station them at the place for people to get access to the health center.
The Minister assured lawmakers of his ministry’s commitment and dedication to looking at various amicable solutions to address the matter urgently, including probable relocation of these vendors or having a barrier at the area for easy accessibility for ambulances to get through.
The Lawmaker insisted on knowing how soon the Ministry would engage relevant authorities to facilitate the matter.
The Minister replied that the engagement has been going on, maintaining that the Ministry will look for further strategies to deal with the problem as a matter of urgency. “This is a partnership and it will be difficult to say how soon because there are different players.”
