Bayelsa Diagnostics Centre: Concessionaire Clears Dickson Of Wrongdoing

The concessionaire of the Bayelsa Diagnostic Centre, Trigen-Craton Ltd, has exonerated former governor of the state, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson of allegations by an amorphous group that he established the world class medical facility with the intent to destroy it at the end of his administration.

The operations manager of Trigen-Craton Ltd, Malcom Okiebai , said in a statement that there was no iota of truth in the allegations involving the equipment at the centre.

Okiebai, who explained that all the equipment procured by the state government under the administration of Senator Dickson were in good condition and safe, called on the public to discountenance the claim that equipment worth billions of naira were taken away from the centre.

He said, “At inception in 2016, Concessionaire was given the mandate to maintain the world class equipment, provide international skilled personnel for the centre with the task of managing it.”

Okiebai recalled that the terms of the concession were that 60 percent of the profit would be for the firm once the center makes profits to enable it to provide effective running of the outfit.

He revealed it was further agreed that 30 percent would go to the Bayelsa State government and ten percent 10 percent in a joint account for routine maintenance and repairs.

“We wish to state for emphasis that all equipment purchased by the state government are safe and intact; that all the equipment purchased were fully paid for even before the commissioning and commencement of operations and are still top-class equipment several years after their purchase,” he added.

He said, “In fact, most of the equipment purchased were the first of its kind in Nigeria at the time.

“We understand the public interest that the center be reopened in Bayelsa and across the country as a reputable diagnostic center with partners abroad. We state that as soon as the outstanding issues are sorted out, we hope to resume operations.

“Lastly, we call on the general public to ignore the falsehood being peddled by mischievous and faceless characters about the diagnostic center.”

The firm’s operational manager explained that the Centre was shut down because it could not get subventions from the state government to sustain the services to the public.

He stressed that the initial arrangement between the government and the firm ran into hitches as the centre could not generate enough funds to cover the huge cost of operations.

“We ran the center from August 2016 to May 5, 2020 at our own cost, as the revenues could not sustain the running cost of the facility.

“The former governor directed a team led by the former SSG and Attorney General of the state to review the concession agreement and accommodate the unforeseen development.

“The former governor had insisted that provision of health services is primarily a social service and therefore directed that the agreement be reworked to accommodate the new development and that the government will reimburse the running cost and expenses.

“This was the situation before the gubernatorial elections that brought in the present administration.

“The centre went into alternate day operations from April 2020, due to huge operational costs, including but not limited to provision of alternate power supply, in this case diesel to power multiple generator sets,” he added.