Delayed completion of Arua hospital satellite laboratory irks leaders

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leaders in Arua district have expressed concern about the delay to complete the construction of a new satellite laboratory at Arua Regional Referral Hospital.

The contract for the satellite lab was awarded to Alliance Technical Services Limited with funding from the World Bank through the Ministry of Health in June 2018 at a tune of 2.5 Billion Shillings for two years.

Although the lab was to be commissioned in August 2020, the lab is still currently at the painting level.

Yonas Oboth, the hospital administrator of Arua Regional Referral Hospital said the delays to complete the laboratory have taken a toll on the hospital resources since samples have to be taken to Adjumani, where there is a recognized lab to carry out tests.

Robert Ochieng, the Deputy Resident District Commissioner of Arua district appealed to the contractors to speed up the process since the facility in Adjumani is not adequate to handle the population of the West Nile region.

Patrick Rubongoya, the engineer of Pan Modern Consults Limited, the consulting engineer explains that the demolition of the old structure cost them a lot of time, in addition to the change of design for the new facility which was in line with the Ministry of Health’s recommendation.

Yvonne Mirembe, the Engineer of Alliance Technical Services Limited has promised to ensure the construction is completed as soon as possible and handed over to the district by June 30 this year.

Once completed, the satellite lab will be the second to that of Adjumani district where all the Covid-19 tests are currently being done and are expected to serve the districts of West Nile, South Sudan and DR Congo.

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