Northern Province Permanent Secretary Elias Kamanga says the poor drainage system in Kasama district caused the flooding of Kasama General Hospital last week

In an interview, Kamanga said the Intensive Care Unity, the Out Patient and the Maternity wings were among the most affected areas of the Hospital

“As you may already be aware, Kasama and Northern Province in Particular, has been experiencing heavy rains, especially for the past week and this week. The heavy down pour led to the flooding of Kasama General Hospital, with the key wings of the hospital such as the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the labour ward, the outpatient among other wings of the Hospital. Kasama nursing school is also affected as the Kitchen area of the school is also flooded and that has been challenging to students in terms of cooking. The flooding is mainly due to poor drainage system in the district, and you may wish to know that the area where the hospital is sitting is actually a swamp. So when heavy rains come, the water stays in one place. We actually noticed that the water was coming from underground in some affected wings of the hospital, meaning that there is no outflow of the Water in case of a heavy downpour,” Kamanga said.

“The flooding poses a huge risk at the highest health institution in the province, that may be a recipe for water borne diseases because we may not know how the Water is actually moving and what damage it is doing. And as already said, the ICU is affected, if you have such a critical part of the hospital flooded, it’s already dangerous enough in terms of attending to emergencies. However, the ICU is still operational. We came up with some interventions using local resources as we await some more resources from the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unity.”

Kamanga said the flooding of the hospital almost led to stoppage of operations at the health institution

“We are however assured that soon, government will start working on some township roads in the district and we will make an appeal that drainages are worked on so that we avoid such happenings that do not only pose a danger to human life, but also reduces on productivity. People cannot work at the same rate when their work environment is flooded. So we hope the contractor who has been given to work on township roads will also be told to do proper drainages that will last a test of time,” he said.

Kamanga however said minister in the office of the Vice-President Sylvia Chalikosa had assured that government would intervene to avoid further inconveniences.

“We grateful to government for the quick response to this problem through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit under the office of the vice President. The minister in the office of the Vice President Sylvia Chalikosa rushed here immediately she was informed of the issue and assured us that government would come in by releasing funds to deal with the situation. The local resources can only do as much, this is a challenge that needs serious long lasting interventions. You may also wish to know that Chiba Basic School within Kasama district, had the roof blown off by the heavy down pour and pupils are stranded in terms of attending classes. The minister also visited the school and assured that government would intervene as soon as possible, so that the pupils are not delayed further,” Kamanga said.