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From: Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa Rear Admiral John Gboribiogha Jonah (rtf) has taken over as acting governor of Bayelsa State following the announcement that Governor Henry Seriake Dickson was proceeding on vacation. A statement from the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, stated that contrary to what had been in place in previous administrations in Bayelsa, Governor Dickson has always delegated functions to his deputy whenever he went on vacation and has never contravened the law. Meanwhile, Adm. Jonah has reiterated the commitment of the Seriake Dickson administration to the adequate health care delivery in the state. Jonah was speaking, on Tuesday, at the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Bayelsa State 2017Annual General meeting. He said the vision of the administration was to make Bayelsa State a medical tourist centre for Nigerians and foreigners. According to him, the state government was at the verge of attaining a critical mass in the health sector and he urged the NMA to join hands with the state government in building the health sector. Jonah disclosed that machinery has been put in place to revisit the Primary Health Care Development Agency Bill for it to be sent back to the House of Assembly for further deliberations and amendments. “Having re-evaluated the health facilities in the state, the government embarked upon the mission of establishing and renovating the Primary Healthcare Centres ( PHCs)in every ward in the state. Not only that, the School of Midwifery, Tombia has been established and also government gave directives for employment of critical essential healthcare workers to man these facilities. These are in addition to the five Referral Hospitals built in Ekeremor, Kaiama, Ogbia, Oporoma and Sagbama. Aside from building and employing personnel to provide services, the restoration government has gone further to establish schemes and programmes like the Bayelsa Health Insurance Scheme (BHIS) and the Governor Dickson’s Safe Delivery project in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and World Bank,” he added. |