Anambra to Upgrade Three General Hospitals Yearly – Hon Onyeka

As part of the government’s plan to transform the Health Sector in the state, the Administration of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo is set to upgrade three general hospitals every year to meet with international standards. The State Commissioner for Housing, Hon Pauli Onyeka, who disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Fides, said already the general hospitals in Ekwulobia, Enugwu Ukwu and Umueri are wearing new looks.

‘We’re not doing any massive structures, just for the sake of it, but we’re doing it purely for transformational reasons so the hospitals will serve as referral centres. As soon as we finish with the structures, the equipping aspect will commence and the hospitals will serve as referral centres for the zones,’ the commissioner disclosed, adding that the hospitals would be upgraded in such a way that patients there would be treated to beautiful and serene environments.

In Education, Hon Onyeka said the state government would commence work on ten worst schools across the state, with three in each local government, with a view to modernizing them to compete with and rank among the best anywhere. The commissioner said this was in line with the state government’s promise to provoke what he called disruptive change.

He however urged the citizenry to pay up their taxes as nothing could be built on a void. He said that with the federal allocation diminishing, due to the huge debt burden incurred by the federal government, it was a no-brainer therefore, that taxes would be relied upon to develop the state.

Onyeka recalled that the existing tax laws in the state were made by previous administrations, stating that the present government was merely implementing those laws, though with more efficacy. Despite that, however, he said taxes were less in the current administration than in previous ones, recalling how taxes were reduced for some categories of people at the lower rung of the ladder.

‘Is anybody suggesting that the state should look at citizens and clap for them while they committed what amounts to crime in the context of the Nigerian Laws? Not paying tax is a crime,’ the commissioner said, while urging the citizens to honour their tax obligations.