X-machine breaks down after just two years in operation!

The quality of items the country imports under aid and/or loan agreements has been brought into sharp focus after an X-ray machine supplied to the Princess Marie Louise Hospital and Child Welfare hospital broke down completely after being in operation for less than two years. The machine was installed in May 1992 under a World Bank credit obtained in 1989 but after since the installation, it has been breaking down intermittently. When the machine, a Compact Diagnost 2 (Phillips) first broke down, engineers of the company that supplied it attributed the fault to the low power voltage in the area.. This was therefore corrected but the machine later had a mechanical fault and stopped working. This has seriously affected the operations of the X-ray department of the hospital where an old x-ray machine now has to be relied on for the large volume of work.

According to hospital sources, thought engineers from F. Malawi Engineering Company, local representatives of Phillips Medical Supplies of Holland an officials of the Ministry of Health have been visiting the clinic in an attempt to rectify the situation, nothing concrete has been achieved.

Events, such as the one above fuel the debate about the way funds obtained as loans and/or aid are used to procure items and equipments of inferior quality usually from the donor country.