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WORK on the La General Hospital has resumed. Consequently, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has visited the site and urged the contractors to expedite the work to ensure the reconstruction of the facility within a year.
Mr Ofori-Atta inspected the ongoing project site last Wednesday. Addressing contractors and workers at the site, he said the early completion of the project was critical to providing the residents of La with access to high quality health care.
He assured the contractors of the government’s commitment to release funds on time to ensure that the project was carried out smoothly and completed at the specified time.
At the time of the visit, work was ongoing on the sub structures of the project. The finance minister said the government had renegotiated the contract terms for the hospital reconstruction.
He indicated that the 160-bed capacity hospital had been maintained, with the appropriate designs.
Mr Ofori-Atta added that the cost of the project had been revised from €57 million to €50 million.
He said the reduction of the budget formed part of the cost-cutting measures of the government due to the current economic challenges the country was faced with.
"So the purpose of today's visit is to ensure that you are genuinely on-site and work is progressing. This is crucial to instil confidence in the public that, as promised, the hospital will indeed be operational within the specified year," Mr Ofori-Atta explained.
The representative of the Ministry of Health said work on the hospital project, which stalled because of “some challenges”, would continue as expected.
He added that the ministry was finalising designs for the main hospital, with work expected to start on Monday, December 7, this year.
The contractor assured the minister that he would deliver quality work in good time.
The La General Hospital was demolished in July 2020 due to severe structural issues reported by the hospital's administration.
Although the President inaugurated the La General Hospital Redevelopment Project in August 2020, actual construction did not commence which led to frustration among residents of La and its surroundings.
The Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, disclosed recently that the Finance Ministry had secured €50 million in local funding for the hospital's reconstruction.
