Tuesday, July 12, 2016

National Hospital Abuja sealed over n7m debt


The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) has locked up the gates to the National Hospital Abuja (NHA) in the early hours of Tuesday.
Shehu Lawan, the Chairman, FCT Ministerial Special Task Force on Recovery of Debts owed AEPB, said that the hospital owed the board N7,776,800 as at June 2016. He disclosed that the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, constituted the task force to recover more than N9 billion owed AEPB by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as private and corporate bodies resident in the FCT. According to him, the board obtained three court summons against the hospital, but the NHA failed to comply.

 Reacting to the incident, Dr. Adetayo Haastrup, the hospital’s spokesperson, described the situation as a rude shock, a national embarrassment and an inhuman act considering the health services rendered by the facility. Haastrup confirmed that the AEPB told the hospital management that the board had a court injunction to recover the debts.

 The spokesman also said that the hospital only received the paper for payment of bill of the said amount in June. He explained that the NHA had made series of attempts to pay up the bill but that the accounts kept bouncing and that the hospital management had explained the challenges to the board. According to him, in the event of any indebtedness by any Agency, AEPB ought to give room for bargaining with the indebted party before resorting to the “seal-off” option.

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