Nkhata Bay District director of health and social services Mwatikonda Mbendera says they need K52 million to repair the oxygen plant at the district hospital.
He said this on Saturday after receiving medical supplies from Nkhata Bay Covid-19 Initiative.
Said Mbendera: “The plant is producing half of its capacity. It now takes 10 hours to fill a cylinder. It previously took six hours to fill a cylinder.
“We informed government about the problem and we hope it will be repaired soon.”
He also said the plant takes long to achieve oxygen purity.
“So, the quotation we got for maintenance was about K52 million,” said Mbendera.
Ironically, on January 31 this year, President Lazarus Chakwera said the oxygen plants at Kamuzu Central Hospital and Nkhata Bay District Hospital were repaired.
In a separate interview, Ministry of Health spokesperson Joshua Malango said engineers had recently worked on the machine, but asked for more time to check the situation.
Meanwhile, Nkhata Bay Covid-19 Initiative has donated seven flow meters and humidifier bottles to the district hospital.
On her part, the Initiative’s chairperson Priscilla Nkhoma said they donated the items following a request by the hospital.
“Let me also thank the Concerned Private Citizens that have donated two cylinders, two flow meters, a pulse oximeter and drip stands,” she said.
The items cost K1.8 million.
