The National Ambulance Service until quite recently, had no fuel for four months, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Service Prof. Ahmed Nuhu Zakaria has confirmed.
The National Ambulance Service buys fuel and sends monthly allocations to its 130 stations. But the delays in the release of funds left several stations grounded for months.
“There are delays because the fuel is not immediately available…the only time they get their fuel is when we have procured some” Prof. Zakaria explained on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Tuesday.
It is believed that service stations are sometimes forced to contribute monies to buy fuel for emergencies.
The CEO, however, indicated that the funds have since been released.
A public enquiry is ongoing to unravel faulty points in Ghana’s emergency response systems following the tragic road disaster that left 63 dead. At least 8 more died while on admission at various hospitals.
A dire need of ambulance service became apparent during rescue efforts and emergency treatment. There are 275 MPs and only 161 ambulances.
In an interview to scrutinize the Service’s resourcefulness, Prof Zakaria confessed that “we need to really resource the emergency health services more “ for the agency has has received GH? 2 million out of a budgetary allocation of GH? 15 million.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
