PM opens refurbished Rabi health center

[Stacey King]

FijiVillage.com Publish date/time: 13/03/2013 [16:58]


PM Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama with a baby at the Rabi health center

 

Good news for residents of Rabi as the newly refurbished health centre will allow people to access tuberculosis services for free.

While opening the health center this morning, Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said their experts have warned that if TB is not controlled, the disease has the potential to wipe out the population in Rabi in just a few years.

He added Rabi is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Health in its efforts to control Tuberculosis, which is a serious threat to everyone on this island.

According to Commodore Bainimarama, TB patients will remain in Rabi, close to their homes and families during the entire course of their treatment.

They no longer have to travel to Labasa hospital or Tamavua hospital in Suva to spend the usual two months while being treated.

A social worker on Rabi island Terikano Takesau said it’s a sigh of relief for the people on the island.

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The Prime Minister also opened a new ice plant for 250 fishermen from Rabi and the surrounding areas like Buca Bay, Kioa and Tunuloa this morning.

Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said fishermen from Rabi will not have to travel as far as Savusavu for ice who want to fish commercially. The ice plant is a joint venture between Government and the Overseas Fishery Cooperation Agency of Japan which cost about $300,000.

Meanwhile, Commodore Bainimarama also announced a new fish farming initiative in Rabi where he acknowledged the efforts of the community and Fisheries officials, who during the past 2 weeks have dug, by hand, the first of 10 fish ponds that will be stocked with Tilapia.


Story by: Ronal Deo