Bui (B/A), June 3, GNA - A Community Health Centre at Bongase, three miles away from the Bui Dam construction site, is not operating effectively for lack of basic facilities.

The facility, upgraded from Community-Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) to a health centre, does not have a medical assistant, a midwife, a ward for detaining cases and basic laboratory services. Ms Mavis Asiedu, a Community Health Nurse at the centre, told the GNA that the centre was impoverished and could not provide the required essential health services to the people. Mr. Albert Ansah, Principal Health Assistant, said the centre's problems were compounded by the pressure on their services by the large population of the town. He said the centre had been upgraded 93only by name because besides t= he unavailability of qualified personnel and basic services, it does not have adequate accommodation for both patients and staff". Mr. Ansah expressed regret that an uncompleted building began in 2008 to make the centre a fully-fledged one in terms of accommodation had been abandoned, a situation that had posed a daunting challenge to adequate health delivery services in the community. The Principal Health Assistant appealed to Tain District Assembly, Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service to assist in the provision of facilities to bring the centre to a standard level for effective and efficient operation. A staff at the Regional Directorate of the GHS described the deprived situation of the centre as 93shameful." Meanwhile, Mr. Joseph Kumah, a former Assembly Member for Bongase, appealed to the Bui Power Authority (BPA), the District Assembly and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to help the community with essential social services. He said with the influx of construction workers to the area, coupled with the presence of Ghanaian returnees from Libya, the town's population had increased and that had created problems.