He said he visited the facility recently and that what he saw was “a very bad comment on all of us that we should allow a hospital like this to get into its current situation”.

He said he had directed the Minister of Health to go to the Western Region and explain things to the chiefs by next week.

President Akufo-Addo said this when the chiefs and queenmothers of the Western and the Western North regions paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House in Accra last Wednesday.

Cocoa processing

He expressed excitement that the West African Mills Company (WAMCO), a cocoa processing company in Takoradi, had been revived and had started making profit.

He said the government would ensure that local cocoa processing companies had access to quality, regular and adequate beans.

Maintenance

President Akufo-Addo expressed worry at the poor maintenance culture in the country, which had culminated in a lot of state assets deteriorating.

On that score, he called for the revival of the maintenance culture.

GNPC

He said the commitment of his administration to move the headquarters of the GNPC to the Western Region had not changed and that once the title to the land acquired was regularised, work would start to ensure that the oil hub destined for the Western Region definitely happened.

He said it made sense that where the oil was found was where all the commercial activities and further development in terms of petrochemical industries should take place.

“We are going to do it,” he declared, and added that the fertiliser manufacturing company would also be built at Jomoro.

Arrears

Touching on arrears of royalties to the chiefs, he said his government had spent quite a lot of its energy paying for the arrears of the past government in sectors including energy, education, health and cocoa and assured the chiefs that the government would work on arrears of royalties.

Development

President Akufo-Addo said although the western part of the country contributed significantly to the nation’s resources, development in the area did not match its contribution and asked for the patience of the chiefs and the people of the area while the government worked to right the wrongs.

He said it would take some time to make that adjustment and assured the chiefs that the commitment of the government to do that was not in doubt.

The President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi II, who spoke on behalf the chiefs from the two regions, commended the government for the creation of the Western North Region.

He called on the government to ensure that the Ghana Water Board came up with policy initiatives that would encourage aluminium phosphate production in Ghana to save the country from the importation of the chemical.