After long, profitable presence, China opens hospital in Unity State

In an area with few medical facilities, the $1 million construction is a long-awaited, positive footprint of China’s growing presence in Southern Sudan as the region’s oil industry changes hands from Khartoum to Juba.

In fact, the hospital was built by the Unity State government, but because authorities failed to provide any medical staff or equipment, the facility was leased to Chinese investors.

Hospital staffWith a Chinese medical staff aided by five Sudanese translators, the hospital combines western medicine with traditional Chinese treatments, said Zhang Xinmin, the hospital manager, adding that China plans to build a larger facility later this year to accommodate an increasing number of patients.

With departments in surgery, orthopedics, gynecology and obstetrics, the China Bentiu hospital houses x-ray equipment, an ultrasonic imager, an electrocardiogram monitor, and other modern apparatus. Given the dearth of health clinics in Unity State, patients have been already streaming in since it opened on 5 April.

Malual Dol, 50, arrived with hopes of getting treatment for the leg pains he has suffered for several years. I heard there is a new hospital open in Bentiu, but it’s taken some time for me to come here,” Dol said.  

With 30 sickbeds and 8 senior wards, the air-conditioned facility will operate around the clock. Patients are required to pay their own medical expenses, but hospital operators insist no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Bentiu residents are happy to see the new hospital, but many wonder what took so long.

One year ago Bonifacio asked about "The oil riches or the oil curse of Unity State?"

Although China has been profiting from oil pumped out of Sudan for about 15 years, Southern Sudanese have seen little or no benefit. During the war, the Chinese were accused of turning a blind eye to the massive displacement of civilians living near the oil fields. Most of the forced evacuation was carried out by Khartoum-aligned militias who were ordered to clear the way for oil operations.

Even after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in 2005, China maintained a cool relationship with Southern Sudan, keeping its representatives based in Khartoum. Once the referendum on independence altered the political landscape, China started making overtures to leaders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Despite a history of uneasy relations, the southern government and China have pledged to work together to maintain oil operations in the future South Sudan. The new hospital appears to be the first tangible sign of cooperation.

People hope they will finally start to benefit from all the wealth lying under our land,” Dol said.