Latest victim loses laptop, cash
HEALTH authorities are working on beefing up security around the National Referral Hospital (NRH) premises in light of the increasing incidents of theft in there.
NRH chief executive officer Dr Steve Aumanu revealed this to the Solomon Star.
“Security is a long standing issue for the hospital,” Dr Aumanu said.
“This is because the hospital has a number of entrances and that it is the biggest health institution accommodating people from different backgrounds and attitudes,” he added.
“However, we are currently working on developing a good security standard to address the increasing incidents of theft at the hospital and make the premises safer.”
Dr Aumanu’s assurance came in the wake of the latest theft incident that occurred at the hospital on Tuesday night.
Victim Timothy Magusi told the Solomon Star he spent the night in the Children’s ward taking care of a family member who was admitted.
“At around 2 am, my eyes were so sleepy that I decided to doze off using my bag as a pillow,” he said.
However, Mr Magusi said when he woke up after a three-hour sleep; he noticed the bag he used as a pillow had gone missing from his head.
“My bag contains a laptop, three flash drives, one mobile phone, a wallet with $800 cash, a bank card, and school identification card,” he said.
“When I realised my bag had been stolen, I rushed over to the security guards and alerted them about it, but they could do nothing because they don’t know who the thief is,” Mr Magusi said.
He said this was a huge loss for him so he cautioned the sick and those taking care of them at the hospital not to bring their valuables in there.
Over the past months, people looking after sick relatives at the hospital have complained of valuables being stolen while they were fast asleep.
Dr Aumanu said it is truly sad that thieves are targeting innocent people at the hospital.
He said this type of attitude showed a lack of respect for the sick and those looking after them.
By BIRIAU W. SAENI
