BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
LAND disputes, no vehicle, no proper water and lighting system, run-down admission, and maternity rooms are currently the major challenge faced by Gounatolo rural health clinic at Fouia in Northeast Malaita.
The present situation has triggered the ongoing poor delivery of rural health services to the vast majority of the population residing in that particular region of Malaita province in the Solomon Islands.
According to the registered nurse in charge of the Gounatolo rural health clinic, Placida Tuka, ever since the completion of the newly built rural health clinic in 2020 until now, the unresolved land disputes between rival tribes have prevented the opening of primary healthcare and clinical services.
“Funded by the Ministry of Provincial Government (PCDF) through the Malaita Provincial Government (MPG) together with the Solomon Islands Government, the clinic aims to benefit, 7449 females and 7402 males in the Baegu Asifola Constituency in North East Malaita.
“Costing SBD 1,782,192.00, the new clinic was built on the 11th of July 2019 and fully completed on the 31st of July 2020, however since then, it is not operational due to a land dispute.
“Once the new clinic is operational, it will serve the rural populace of Lau lagoon including wards 10, 11, 12, and 13 in Baegu Asifola and as far as ward 14 in Ata’a,’’ Placida Tuka noted.
With the current unresolved land disputes, Tuka said now the primary health care services are provided within the old and run-down rural Gounatolo health clinic at Fouia.
“Since I have taken up my post as the registered nurse in charge of the Gounatolo rural health clinic from 2019 to 2023 (this year), the newly built government-funded rural health clinic still stands idol and non-operational until today due to unresolved tribal land dispute.
“To make matters worse, the old run-down health clinic has no proper water and lighting system, run-down admission and maternity rooms unfit to provide quality health care services to the rural populace in this particular region of Malaita.
“Located in the Baegu Asifola Constituency in North East Malaita, Gounatolo rural health clinic is the only health facility that provides primary health care services to the surrounding communities of Lau Lagoon and Baegu Asifola,’’ she said.
Placida told SUNDAY ISLES that it is now time for the rival tribes in the Baegu Asifola region to resolve whatever ill differences they have in mind to allow the opening of the newly built rural health clinic.
Likewise, she said the present situation has made her role as a primary healthcare giver more challenging and frustrating due to the current poor state of medical resources and services offered to patients within the old and run-down Gounatolo rural health clinic at Fouia.
“My situation has gone worst from day to day ever since I worked here, in one occasion I had to call my superiors at Malu’u mini hospital in the Northern region of Malaita to purchase me a head torch so that I can use it during the night when there are any emergency cases.
“The clinic building and the medical staff houses here have already been infested with white ants; it is everywhere at an unimaginable level.
“With no proper water supply system in place, I have to rely on rainwater storage tanks but it all deepens if the water tank is full or empty.
“In a particular sad scenario, I have to command a father (husband) to fetch me water from a nearby stream, which is a few kilometers from the clinic just to help his wife during childbirth delivery.
“It is sad but I have to face such harsh reality of this ongoing problem,” she added.
As one of the urgent needs of the Gounatolo rural health clinic, Placida also calls on the responsible government health authority to provide a vehicle to help transport patients to the hospital during times of emergency.
