City Hall to get facelift at expense of county hospitals
City Hall has cut the budget for construction and equipping of hospitals by Sh316 million and raised the allocation for the refurbishment of county assembly chambers.
The health budget for the year ending this month has been slashed to Sh594 million from the Sh910 million that was allocated in the budget passed in June last year, according to the supplementary budget submitted to the county assembly on Wednesday.
The budget notice did not indicate projects in the health docket that have been affected by the cut.
But the development budget had targeted the revamp and equipping of Pumwani Maternity Hospital, City Mortuary, construction of a 20-bed maternity wing in Dagorretti and rehabilitation of several clinics.
On the other hand, the county assembly development budget whose main item is the rehabilitation of the chambers was upped from Sh320 million to Sh406 million.
Refurbishment of the chambers has been going on for two years now with the assembly using Charter Hall for their sittings.
The assembly spent Sh347 million in 2013/14 fiscal year for development which included the purchase of vehicles, rehabilitation of offices and the chamber.
The cut in the health development budget comes despite several reports by the county assembly health committee which paint a picture of neglect in the county’s clinics.
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SOURCE: Business Daily