505 52 Pirang Health Post boosted

The Pirang Health Post through Sulayman Sambou, a native of Gunjur yesterday received an ambulance from Dresden-Banjul Organisation, at a handing-over ceremony held at the health post.

The ambulance would facilitate easy access to the Brikama Health Centre as well as to the Royal Victorial Teaching Hospital (RVTH) when the need arises. Speaking at the handing-over ceremony, Duta Fofana, the alkalo of Pirang, expressed profound gratitude to the donors and Sulayman Sambou in particular for making the donation possible. He assured the donors of the proper use of the ambulance, explaining that it is something they have been yearning for since the issue of referral was a cause of concern for them.

For his part, Muhammad Jabang, the Imam of the village also joined the previous speaker in commending the donors for providing the ambulance which he described as timely and useful to them as well as the catchments areas of Pirang. The chairman of Pirang Village Development Committee, Alasana Bojang, also expressed gratitude to the Dresden-Banjul Organisation for coming to their aid. He spoke at length on the importance of the new ambulance to the community, and urged them to continue supporting the health post.

For her part, Mariama Manneh, staff of the health post said the newly donated ambulance will now make their work easier in terms of cases that need referrals to other hospitals. Malta Mendy, a community health nurse at the Pirang Health Post described the donation as timely given that the number of referral cases continues to increase at the health post. He also recalled that a patient once lost her life due to lack of referral ambulance. He finally thanked the donors for the generous gesture.

For his part, Heiuz Bormann, manager of the Dresden-Banjul Organisation said the donation came as a response to a request made by the community with regard to the lack of ambulance at the health post. He pointed out that with the ambulance it will now be easy to refer a patient at anytime. He assured of his organisation's continuous support to the health post, and went on to disclose that the organisation was formed in 2006 and since then has been contributing to national development.

Sulayman Sambou, the organisation's programme officer, and the man behind the donation said they have been supportive in the areas of education and health, amongst others. He then advised the community to take good care of the ambulance, noting that it cost a lot of money.

The National Assembly member for Kombo East, Lamin Bojang, expressed his pleasure with the gesture and thanked the donors for what he described as an unprecedented move in the history of the health post. He urged the beneficiaries to see the ambulance as their property by contributing some amount of money in case of any breakdown.
He further pointed out that the ambulance will not serve only the people of Pirang but even the environs. He finally thanked Sulayman Sambou for the love he has for the people of Pirang. Other speakers at the ceremony included Alhagie Fofana, Pirang VDC member and Awa Bojang.