The Upper Regional Minister, Honorable Stephen Yakubu has mentioned in a recent interview that Bolgatanga is a great place to live but the lack of certain social amenities in the capital of the region is deterring some people; especially professionals who refuse to accept postings to the work in the region.
The minister made this statement when he engaged with A1 radio’s Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith on the Day Break Upper East Show at his residence.
Addressing the concerns of brain drain within the health sector in the region, the minister indicated that it is an issue of great concern.
According to the minister, there have been some consultations with some stakeholders in the sector and a lot has been done to support and retain medical personnel.
Mr. Yakubu however lamented that the challenge still persists. He bemoaned that the lack of certain social amenities such as private hospitals and continuous education centres, and other social facilities as major causes of the brain drain.
The minister also noted that there was a general unwillingness of some indigenes to accept posting to or stay in the region to serve.
“When I came and I took stock of that, I realized that it was a big problem. I met people, I tried to figure out, I investigated and I still don’t understand why. Because for example, Bolga [Upper East] regional hospital, there are a lot of things we are doing to help the doctor’s accommodation, and other things to make sure that they stay.”
“I think that as a region and also people who hail from here who are doctors and who nurses even sometimes don’t want to work in this region. I think that sometimes it’s the facilities for example. The questions are for example, do we have good schools here for instance, do we have certain amenities here that people are not getting for instance?”
According to the Regional Minister, he is working very closely with some private individuals and institutions to consider investing in the private schools and hospitals in the region.
“…these are the things I’ve been working very closely with the universities for instance to try and set up satellite campuses here. I’ve also been looking at private people setting up good schools here. I’ve also been looking at even private doctors setting up private hospitals here. Because if someone is a doctor and only working in the Bolga hospital, can he do locum in other places to get small money here and there in his free time? These are the things that are not attracting people to come here.”
Hon. Stephen Yakubu reiterated that aside the challenges with the availability of certain amenities to complement certain occupations, Bolgatanga is a very great place to live.
“I think Bolga is a great place to live. It is just these small amenities that we have to make sure it complements people’s desire to have and to live here and we are working on that. And thing are getting better all the time.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gerard Awombadek Asagi|Ghana
