Posted by By Rose Ejembi, Makurdi on
A 20-bed male ward at the General Hospital, Wanunne, Tarka Local Government Area in Benue State was at the weekend gutted by fire which destroyed properties worth millions of naira. Saturday Sun gathered that the fire said to have started from a nearby cassava farm burnt beds, mattresses, cupboards and also led to the eventual collapse of the building.
A 20-bed male ward at the General Hospital, Wanunne, Tarka Local Government Area in Benue State was at the weekend gutted by fire which destroyed properties worth millions of naira. Saturday Sun gathered that the fire said to have started from a nearby cassava farm burnt beds, mattresses, cupboards and also led to the eventual collapse of the building.
According to the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Joseph Kumba, it took the intervention of concerned members of the community to stop the fire from extending to other buildings while all the patients on admission in the ward were evacuated to safety.
While lamenting the extent of the damage, Dr. Kumba said it would take about N20 million to construct and equip such the ward again.
In the mean time, chairman of Tarka Local Government Area and ALGON President, Mr. Barkar Dserkwo has described the incident as a major setback in the effort to achieve affordable health care for the people of the area
The chairman who stated this Monday when he visited the hospital to assess the extend of damage stressed the need for control measures to be put in place to forestall such incident in future.
The ALGON president also commended members of the community for their quick response towards controlling the fire and expressed optimism that those still living on the hospital land will cooperate with the government in facilitating that they vacate the premises to give way for the rehabilitation of the hospital.