Minister for Health, Agyemang Manu, has expressed the need for several health facilities that lack structural integrity to be pulled down.
He made this known when he appeared before Parliament on Tuesday, November 14, to answer questions on the stalled works with regards to the La General Hospital.
According to Mr Agyemang Manu, there is the need to demolish several hospitals in the country just like the La General Hospital to prevent the loss of lives in the future, but due to lack of funds, government is unable to do so.
He noted facilities such as the Elmina Polyclinic, the Korle-Bu surgical block, Akyem Oda Government Hospital, among others, need to be levelled for reconstruction.
“It is true, there are several hospitals in this country that need to be pulled down tomorrow morning. But you know, when you don’t have adequate funding, you can’t do everything at a go. Salt pond, Elmina, Oda, Korle Bu (surgical block), we need to pull down all these facilities and rebuild them,” he said.
The Minister took the opportunity to inform the House that work on the Komfo Anokye Maternity block has been suspended after its demolition due to lack of funds.
“La General Hospital is not the only hospital that has been pulled down, and we are not working on it. We have pulled down Komfo Anokye Maternity Block. It was there for nearly 44 years,” he said.
He also noted that there were plans to raze down the Korle Bu Maternity block for reconstruction, but due to the current La General Hospital situation, there has been a u-turn.
“We started working on the Korle Bu maternity block. Parliament approved funding, signed agreement, loan was procured, but as I speak, we have suspended work in that place because of the experience with La.
“We just haven’t been able to pull down the maternity block and it is a very dangerous thing for us as I speak. We are using an adjourning land in Korle Bu unlike La, because we have lot of space to do the work,” he said.
Touching on the stalled work on the La General Hospital, which has garnered the wrath of many residents and a section of the public, the Health Minister assured that government “wants to see that hospital back.”
In July 2020, the La General Hospital was demolished due to severe structural issues. Subsequently, President Akufo-Addo initiated the La General Hospital Redevelopment Project with a groundbreaking ceremony on August 10, 2020. However, construction has not commenced as of now.
Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has blamed the delay in the reconstruction of the La General Hospital in Accra on the withholding of funds by the sponsors of the facility.
Reacting to a statement made by the Member of Parliament for La Dade-Kotopon, Rita Odoley Sowah, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said that the sponsors withheld the funds after Ghana entered into an engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Mr. Speaker, what has happened is that after the engagement with the IMF, funding from those sources that Parliament approved of, the funding has been withheld by the sponsors,” Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.
“Mr. Speaker, until the nation is given a clean bill of health by the IMF, it is going to be difficult for the funding to be released. This is why the government now wants to situate it within the context of Agenda 111, and that will mean that the facility will have to be scaled down a bit.”
Following this, the Chairman of the Greater Accra caucus of the Minority, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has threatened that the group, along with residents of La and Ga Mashie, will stage a demonstration if the government fails to include funding for the La General Hospital in the 2024 budget.
But in his update in Parliament today, Mr Agyemang Manu noted that the Finance Ministry has secured €50 million in local funding for the reconstruction of the La General Hospital
“At the 37th session of the cabinet, the president directed the Ministers of Trade and Industry, Health and Finance to find alternative sources of funding to recommence the project. Through the efforts of the three-man committee, the Minister of Finance has now identified funds locally to continue the project with the same simple work scope but a reviewed price of 50 million Euro,” he said.
He noted that borrowing from a syndicated group to undertake the construction of the La General Hospital has checked the cost implications for financing.
In response to this information, the Member of Parliament for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak, faulted the Minister for failing to disclose the source of funding.
“Is it Rawlings Park or Kejetia Market or where, you want us to believe that sincerely you have found money and you are going to deal with it.”
Per the minister’s briefing, the contractors have pledged to return to site when they receive the money in their account.
For Mr Muntaka, this does not indicate the contractor’s confidence in the government’s ability to provide the funds.
“You know that when there is confidence and the contractor knows proper documentation has been done, he will not ask you that give me money before I go to the site. He will go to the site, work and raise certificate for you to pay. Why is the contractor telling you that let the money hit my account first? It shows that everyone around the project does not trust what the government is saying.”
Meanwhile, Mr Muntaka is of the assertion that the government never intended to reconstruct the La General Hospital. According to Mr Muntaka, government should have ensured funding would not be a challenge before it brought down the structure.
“The Minister being a chartered accountant and all that will know that you will not dare step forward to commence a project when you are not certain, ensure of the readiness of funds. The first thing any reasonable person would have done will be first, get a makeshift structure that you can move almost all the facilities so the hospital will still be running,” the Asawase MP said.
He made reference to the Minister’s submission provided to the House, which in part says “submission of proposal for value for money was done in May 2020.”
He also indicated that, per the Health Minister’s submission, “completion of value-for-money audit following the issuance of insurance coverage by Synosure was done in March 2022.”
“Two solid years to do value for money. Mr Speaker it clearly shows that there was no commitment,” Mr Muntaka added.
He also cited Page 3 of the Minister’s response which reads “following the submission of the advance payment request by the Ministry of Finance to be paid by Stanchart, the lead arranger, it came to light that one of the creditors, as part of the syndicate had gone under liquidation.”
Mr Muntaka questioned the Health Minister for failing to do the necessary checks on the banks to ensure they were capable of providing the funds.
“Mr Speaker you are entering into an agreement with banks and other institutions. What checks did you do on those banks? How sure are you that they were capable of financing it. If it was a syndicate and one has gone into liquidation, what happened to the rest?” he quizzed.
Mr Muntaka therefore came to the conclusion that the La General Hospital was demolished to enable the government win the 2020 general election.
He based this assertion on aspects of the Health Minister’s chronology of event show that signing of final contract for the reconstruction of the La General Hospital took place in July 2020; demolition of structure to make way for the new facility also in July; sod-cutting ceremony on 11th August, 2020 and commencement of preparatory work, including geotechnical studies, soil testing, and size setup for the office – September 2020.
He noted that after September 2020, “the only time they (government) started doing anything about it was in 2022.”
“I don’t anyone to tell me that all this was done because an election was pending. All it meant was to deceive the people of La,” Mr Muntaka therefore said.
Ending his submission, Mr Muntaka entreated the Health Minister to be sincere with the public and inform them of the challenges being faced.
“Don’t raise hope when you are not sure,” he said.
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