Kwara state government has upgraded and expanded the 46 government hospitals across the three senatorial zones in the state to accommodate the increasing number of patients visiting the hospitals, and to continue to provide effective health care delivery to them.
The Executive Secretary, of Kwara State Hospital Management Board Dr AbdulAkeem Malik, said this on Monday at the quarterly ministerial press briefing organised by the state government to showcase it’s achievements across ministries and parastatals.
Commissioner for Communications, Mrs Bola Olukoju who coordinated the activities said that the current administration would not rest on its oars towards ensuring that dividends of democracy are delivered at the doorstep of kwarans as promised by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Malik of the state hospital management board however told journalists that the need for the expansion and upgrade was discovered during the visit to the hospitals across the state last year as directed by the governor.
He also said that the state government has installed Solar system in the hospitals to provide uninterrupted power supply thereby putting an end to service delivery interruptions in the government hospitals.
Malik further said that salaries and allowances of health workers in the state have been increased to be at par with their colleagues at the federal level to discourage japa syndrome and ensure optimum service delivery.
Similarly,about three million residents in Kwara State are being targeted for registration in the ongoing capturing under the supervision of Kwara State Residents Registration Agency (KWASRRA).
This is just as the agency said it has captured 270,45 residents of the state in its database since the flag-off of the exercise last year.
The Acting General Manager of the agency, Tajudeen Jimoh, disclosed this at the quarterly inter-ministerial press briefing .
KWASRRA boss said the agency was carrying out the registration for economic planning and social recreation purposes among others in line with the directive of the state government.
Jimoh explained that the registration of residents was not only for civil servants for all residents of the state irrespective of status, religion and political affiliation.
“You will recall that 2006 was the last time population and housing census was conducted in the country, which put the population of Kwara around 2million. In recent times, the population of Kwara is projected to be over 3million, and in this ongoing registration, we are targeting 3million residents.
“The essence of this is for proper economic planning, social recreation purposes and others. With the approval of His Excellency, we were able to carry out mop up registration after the expiration of the initial deadline.
“The Governor also gave approval that the exercise be taken to the doorsteps of rural dwellers. As we speak, we have 80 centres across the 16 Local Government Areas. In fact, the Governor has approved distribution of SSCID cards to owners free of charge.
“Our target is not just to register civil servants but all residents of the state. It is mandatory for all residents of the state to be registered, and so far, 270,045 residents of the state have been registered. But the registration is still an ongoing exercise”, the KWASRRA acting General Manager said.
SOURCE: VANGUARD NEWSPAPER