The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Osei Owusu, has debunked reports suggesting that the ongoing Bekwai Hospital project has been abandoned.
His comments follow some news reports claiming the project has stalled.
Speaking to Citi News, the Bekwai MP insisted that the project will be completed within the 18-month time frame.
“I understand that the newspaper published that government has abandoned the Bekwai hospital. That is false. The contractors are installing equipment. There are those doing the ground work. Now the contractors are two, one group is doing the equipment and the other is doing the groundwork… So saying that the Bekwai hospital has been abandoned is false.”
The Bekwai Hospital is one of the critical and strategic hospitals in the Ashanti Region.
The construction of the district hospital, which was initially part of a two-district hospital project under ADB HSRP III, commenced in September 2010.
The tendering procedure started in December 2008, and was awarded 18 months later in July 2010.
The other hospital under the HSRP III project, the Tarkwa District Hospital, has been completed and has been operational since 2012.
The construction of the Bekwai Hospital has however stalled since 2012 due to inadequate funding.
Government however promised to complete the project in response to a petition forwarded by Citi FM and Occupy Ghana to the presidency, demanding the operationalization of abandoned hospitals in the country.
The contract for completion of Bekwai District Hospital for an amount of EUR 22,330,550.00 between the government of Ghana, acting through the Ministry of Health and Ellipse Projects SAS France Limited, received Cabinet approval in July 2018, and subsequently parliamentary approval in the same month.
Gov’t sets new deadlines for completion of abandoned hospital projects
In a related development, government has shifted forward its earlier announced deadlines for the completion of eight major hospital projects across the country.
The facilities included two regional hospitals and the six district hospitals with a total bed capacity of 810.
The hospitals were part of the many uncompleted health facilities highlighted by Citi FM in its campaign for the completion of all abandoned and uncompleted hospitals.
