RUHANGO - Residents of Kinazi, Ntongwe and Mbuye sectors in Ruhango District; Busoro in Nyanza District and Mugina in Kamonyi District will no longer have to trek long distances to access health services once the modern Rwf5.5bn hospital that is under construction in Kinazi Sector is completed, district officials have said.

The hospital, set to be complete in a year, will help residents in the three districts to access health services closer to their homes, reducing the amount of time spent travelling to Kabgayi and Gitwe hospitals.

"The hospital will enable local residents access modern health facilities that they could not have before,” said Célestin Twagirumukiza, the Ruhango district Mayor.

Residents and health officers in the sector who talked to The New Times were upbeat on the advantages that accrue from having a modern hospital within their proximity.

"It is not easy to transport pregnant women to Gitwe or Kabgayi hospitals located almost 40 km from away. Lives have been lost because of long distances,” Domina Nyiramitsindo, a nurse at Kinazi health centre said.

Engineer Jean Marie Bukuru, of HYGEBA&EDC, the company hired to construct the hospital, said that they are facing some delays caused by some families living on the land who are waiting to be expropriated.

"We are moving at a slow pace because they have not received their payments,” Bukuru said.

Mayor Twagirumukiza, said compensation for the affected families is being processed by the Ministry of Health, and the residents would move as soon as they are paid.

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