Government Probes £1.75m Housing Project

THE NDC government has said it is investigating circumstances surrounding the non-execution of a project to construct 221 housing units for medical and paramedical staff of the Regional Hospital in Sunyani. According to Vice President John Dramani Mahama, an amount of £1,750,000 was paid by the NPP Government to the contractors, the International Hospitals Groups (IHG), as part payment for the project, but no work has been done. The Vice President was speaking at the commissioning of the Sunyani Regional Hospital, which was completed in 2000. It was one of the three projects which were commissioned in Sunyani on Friday. The government also donated a 30-seater bus to the hospital. The Vice President also commissioned an ICT Centre, christened BA@ 50 ICT Centre, as well as a three-storey hostel on the Sunyani Campus of the KNUST. The Sunyani Regional Hospital was largely completed in 2000 but actual operations started in 2003. Addressing a durbar, the Vice President assured the hospital management and staff that Government will ensure that residential accommodation is constructed for the hospital. The Vice President also announced that the policy of the former NDC Government, which saw the building of the Sunyani, Ho and Cape Coast Regional hospitals, will be continued with Wa, Bolga and Koforidua. Mr Mahama stated that Government is concerned about the challenges facing the health sector and will strive to make conditions in the service attractive to curb brain drain. The Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, noted that after six years of operation, some of the equipment need to be replaced. He assured that the Government will take steps to re-equip the hospital as a means of up-scaling health delivery in Brong-Ahafo. At the commissioning of the ICT Centre, funded by the GETfund, the Vice President called for demystification of ICT, saying it has become part and parcel of daily life. The Coordinator of the GETfund, Sam Garbah, said that Government will ensure equitable distribution of GETfund investments across the country. The Minister for Communications, Haruna Iddrisu, took the opportunity to announce that Government will from next year introduce an E-School Project from the basic to the tertiary level. Under the project, computers will be provided for use by students, with the aim of expanding access and unleashing the ICT potential of Ghanaians. During the commissioning of a GETFund hostel at the Sunyani Campus of the KNUST, which houses the Faculty of Forest Resource Technology (FFRT), the Vice President announced that a committee has been tasked to work out the modalities for the establishment of public universities in Brong-Ahafo and Volta regions. The Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. K.K Adarkwa, noted that Agriculture has been the main stay of the country, but the sector has suffered due to post-harvest losses and land degradation amongst others. He said KNUST has therefore put in place conscious measures to help overcome the challenges affecting the sector. Some of the dignitaries present were the Director General of the Ghana Health Services, Dr. Elias Sorey, the Board Chairman of Bui Power Authority, Mr. I.K. Adjei Mensah and the National Chairman of the NDC, who is also Chairman of the GETfund Board, Dr. Kwabena Agyei. From Vivianna Mensah, Sunyani/DAILY GUIDE