WARRI – The Delta State Government has debunked rumour making the rounds that it had scrapped the Free Maternal and under five Health Care Services being enjoyed by indigenes across the state.
Fielding questions from members of the Warri Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Warri, the Chief Press Secretary(CPS) to the Delta State Government, Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu, said the free health care program introduced by immediate past administration of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan was still being maintained by the present leadership of Sen.Dr. Ifeayin Arthur Okowa.
He added however that, there was only a slight modification on the health care program with the introduction of a new scheme,aimed at improving on the already existing program.
In his words, “The free Mother/Child Care and the elderly are still operational across the state.”
“We have not scrapped it, if we are going to ,it would be announced.”
” The Contributory Health Insurance Scheme Bill has been passed by state government into law, it has been signed as an act of the State Assembly.”
Explaining further, Aniagwu noted that, it was in the best interest of Deltans, as according to him, they would not need to start looking for money when they are sick before going to the hospital ,just as it is obtainable in modern cities like Abuja, at the federal level.
He however added that in the mean time, the government was still paying for the mother/child and the elderly.
Okowa’s media aide, denied the insinuations that the present administration was abandoning the projects started by its predecessor explaining that ,there is no love lost between Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Dr. Ifeayin Okowa.
“Let me say, that there is no problem between my principal, Sen.Dr.Ifeayin Okowa and the immediate past governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan.”
“They are in good terms, the relationship is cordial, if there is any problem, it only exists in the minds of the people who think so.”
“We appreciate him and the past executive; there is no problem at all …even if there were to be, when you talk about the project that touch on the lives of the people, the approach is different, because it touches the lives of the people irrespective of who initiated them.”
The CPS reeled out some of the projects initiated by the immediate past administration and the continued by the present administration to include, the Asaba International Airport, the Okpanam Road Project, the rehabilitation of some roads, including the overhead bridge in Warri among others maintaining that the present economic situation was still a major challenge.
