After informing the Joe Osei-Owusu led Appointment Committee that work on the La General Hospital has commenced, the Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, is now singing a different song about the same project. The Minister says he doesn’t know when the contractor will commence work at the site.
The reason he gave was that the contractor has refused to go to the site until he gets an insurance cover from the guarantor, SINOSURE.
Mr Agyeman-Manu made this known whilst responding to questions asked by RitaNaaOdoleySowah, Member of Parliament (MP) forDadekotopon, on when actual work on the Hospital will commence.
The Minister indicated that during the vetting, works such as demolition, fencing, topographical surveying, designs and other preliminary activities were ongoing and not the actual construction.
“I have underlined a few activities that were ongoing at site and at the vetting I took those activities as preliminary works. That was why I said there was construction going on at the site.
“The little problem we are having at the Ministry is that the contractor is insisting that not until SINOSURE issues the insurance cover, they cannot go to the site.”
He noted that following the approval of the financial agreement and the Commercial Contract by cabinet and Parliament, the Guarantor, SINOSURE, was required to cover the project to close the transaction.
But the Minister said SINOSURE delayed in the issuance of the insurance cover which has accounted for the contractor’s slow progress of work.
He said the Ministry of Finance has made the necessary engagements and consultations and it is expected that the Insurance cover will be issued soon for the contractor to commence work.
“The Finance Minister has been informed and they are engaging them and the indication is that the problem will soon be resolved. Since the Ministry does not control that activity, it will be difficult for me to give a very specific point in time. All I can say is that it will be very soon,” he said.
Another factor the Minister gave as a contributor to the delay in execution of the project is an intrusive geological exploration. He said this exploration when conducted will help determine the depth of the foundation and the sizes of the structural numbers for the facility.
Explaining how critical it is to conduct the exploration, the Health Minister said itwas to avoid any structural problems which affected the old building and led to its demolition.
Mr Agyeman-Manu recalled that the building was demolished upon a recommendation from a structural integrity report conducted.
He said parts of the walls peeled off and fell on people so the only way was to demolish it before it caused harm to patients and workers over there hence a geological exploration is very critical to the longevity of the building.
He said the Ministry never anticipated that the delay will be too much “but the comforting news is that once the physical construction starts with all the right drawings and studies that are currently ongoing, there will be no breaks until completion.”
He again noted that until the project is completed, people in the vicinity should either visit the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) or the Ridge hospital as was decided earlier on.
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