Hope rises for domasi Hospital
People in Domasi and surrounding areas could soon access healthcare closer to home after the government reaffirmed its commitment to resume construction of the long-delayed Domasi Community Hospital. Construction of the long-awaited Domasi Community Hospital began in 2012 and was expected to be completed by 2015. However, the project stalled in 2013 after the Joyce...
eople in Domasi and surrounding areas could soon access healthcare closer to home after the government reaffirmed its commitment to resume construction of the long-delayed Domasi Community Hospital.
Construction of the long-awaited Domasi Community Hospital began in 2012 and was expected to be completed by 2015. However, the project stalled in 2013 after the Joyce Banda administration halted the works.
The project resumed in 2015 after the Peter Mutharika administration allocated K4.2 billion through the 2014/15 National Budget, but it has yet to be completed, leaving residents waiting for the promised health facility which is expected to act as Zomba district hospital.
However, hopes of seeing the project completed were revived on Monday after Zomba Malosa Member of Parliament Grace Kwerepeta pressed Minister of Health and Sanitation Madalitso Baloyi in Parliament for an update, reminding the House that she had previously been assured funding for the hospital had already been secured.
Kwerepeta stressed that completing the hospital would significantly improve access to healthcare for people in the area while reducing the patient load at Zomba Central Hospital, which continues to struggle with congestion.
Responding to the question, Baloyi said the government’s commitment to completing the hospital remains unchanged, assuring Parliament that the project is still on course.
She revealed that officials from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, together with the project’s donor, visited the Domasi hospital site last month to assess the condition of the unfinished structures and determine where construction would resume.
According to the minister, the site inspection has paved the way for the next phase of the project, with the donor giving the ministry the green light to proceed.
“The position I made in this House that construction of Domasi Community Hospital will resume has not changed. Just last month, the donor, together with staff from my ministry, visited Domasi to appreciate where the structure currently is and where we will be starting from. Having done that, the donor has given us the opportunity to proceed so that construction can resume,” Baloyi told Parliament.
The renewed commitment is expected to be welcomed by residents who have waited years for the completion of the facility, which is anticipated to bring essential health services closer to the community and help decongest Zomba Central Hospital.
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