More land required for health development

By Lachlan Eddie

The Minister for Health and Medical Services, Hon. Paul Bosawai, has called on all provincial premiers to allocate a minimum of 10 hectares of land for health development.

Minister Bosawai told parliament that this is to meet current and future healthcare needs.

“I want to take this opportunity to inform our good premiers across Solomon Islands that the minimum area for provincial health hospitals or facilities should be 10 hectares,” Minister Bosawai said.

He explained that smaller allocation is insufficient for long-term planning. 

“There are some facilities that have been allocated 5 hectares, but when we plan for the next 30 years, 5 hectares is not enough. 

“When we want to decentralize the healthcare system to be equivalent to National Referral Hospital, we need bigger spaces, especially for support services, so that the health infrastructure we want to build for our people in the next 30 years will be adequate,” he said.

Adequate land size will help expand provincial health facilities to meet the health care needs of the population as provincial townships are expanding.

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