Seasoned Journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has slammed President Nana Akufo-Addo and his government over their Agenda 111 health project aimed at building 111 district and Regional hospitals across Ghana.
Government has secured US$100 million to construct the hospitals.
According to President Akufo-Addo, the hospitals are expected to be completed in 18 months.
”So far sites have been identified for 88 of the 111 hospitals, and after cutting the sod, work on the other 87 sites will also commence today [Tuesday].”
“The acquisition of the remaining 13 sites will be completed shortly for work to begin. Each hospital is being constructed at a cost of $16.88 million, i.e. $12.88 million for construction and $4 million for medical equipment, and all the hospitals are to be completed in 18 months and works will begin on the regional and other hospitals in the latter part of the year,” the President said during his sod-cutting for the project in the Ashanti Region on Tuesday, August 17.
But Kwesi Pratt takes the President’s words with a pinch of salt as he questions the government’s commitment to complete the hospitals with the specified time.
Speaking on Peace FM’s flagship programme ”Kokrokoo”, Mr. Pratt alluded to the Police hospital which he says rehabilitation works on the hospital have been pending for over 18 years.
He wondered how true the Akufo-Addo government are to the Agenda 111 when they can’t finish rehabilitating the Police hospital.
“We were all in Accra and saw them cut sod for the rehabilitation of Police hospital. It’s been eighteen (18) years now and we haven’t finished the Police hospital rehabilitation . . . So, if we can’t finish Police hospital rehabilitation which we’re using government money to do and we’re told that we can build hospitals in 18 months, the words are appealing but there will be small belief in it,”he said.
Further casting doubts over the project, Mr. Pratt disclosed that there has been two sod-cuttings at Trede for the same project with the first sod-cutting done by the Minister of Health, and this, to him, somehow doesn’t show seriousness on the part of the government for the project to materialize.
