The ambulance that the
Health Ministry donated to Njeru municipality in July last year is grounded.
The Njeru Municipal
Health Secretary, Flavia Kwagala Musubika, says the ambulance has been grounded
for the last four months.
According to Musubika, the ambulance registration number UG
4648M is need of repairs and servicing. Musibuka
says patients especially accident victims are the most affected by the
breakdown of the ambulance.
“Hiring a private ambulance is too expensive for
patients in our community and may require them pay between Shillings 60,000 to
100,000 to transport them to their intended destinations,” Musubika
explains.
She says residents within the municipality used to pay less
than Shillings 50, 000 to use the ambulance.
Docus Musimenta, a resident of
Mbikko, says the ambulance had improved health service delivery especially in
terms of responding to emergencies.
She says even in the absence of emergencies, the ambulance
needs to be functional since none can predict tragic moments.
David Muliisa,
another resident wonders why the ambulance broke down after working for less
than a year.
He says immediate steps should be taken to fix the ambulance
to serve its intended purpose since it has been key in responding to
emergencies especially in Mabira forest.
//Cue in:
“Abantu abagikozesa ffe…
Cue out: …omuddo gugenda gimeramu”//
Yasin Kyazze, the Mayor Njeru municipality, says
they have been constrained to repair the ambulance because of the lengthy
government procurement process.
