PHOTO: Sen Henrique Tokpa of Bong County
By Emmanuel Mafelah, mafelahemmanuel29@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- Hospitals and clinics around the country, those in Bong County being no exception, remain largely underfunded – a crisis that continue to adversely affect the quality of health service delivery in every aspect.
There have been instances where surgeries and deliveries have taken place using flash lights, with hospitals and clinics most often out of fuel to power generators.
It is against this backdrop that Bong County Senator Dr. Henrique Tokpa has made a passionate plea for adequate funding for health centers in the county. Those were highlights in their report to the senate, Dr. Tokpa disclosed.
He told a radio talk show in Gbarnga Bong County that constraints being experienced by health administrators in the county need to be addressed as a matter of urgency through acceptable support.
“Hospitals and clinics are completely empty; no drugs or even fuel to run their generators. This must stop. Hospitals and clinics aren’t the buildings, but the services they’re providing to our people,” Dr. Tokpa pointed out.
He also used the occasion to reiterate the need for all to work towards sustaining the peace in order to promote development, saying peace and development are interwoven.
Prospects for economic transformation in Bong County, he said, depends to a greater extent on the people’s adherence to those virtues that promote peace and tranquility.
“It is only a peaceful environment that is conducive for investment—investments that create job and improve lives. There are people who want to come to this country, but it depends on how peaceful the country is. I therefore humbly want to call on Liberians to make peace a must in the New Year” the lawmaker further stated.
He said also highlighted in their report to the senate were plans to reintroduce the Madam Suakoko scholarship.
The scholarship program, according to him, previously helped hundreds of youths of the county who could not afford the fees at the Cuttington University, the University of Liberia and other tertiary institutions in the country.
Sen. Tokpa believes the reintroduction of the scholar