Former Minister of Health Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey has laughed off the announcement by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to build at least 88 new hospitals, saying no government worth its salt can do so within one year.
“It is not feasible,” he emphasized.
He said even the procurement process alone takes over a year.
Dr Sipah Yankey made this known on Thursday on Hot Issues with Johnnie Hughes.
“To begin to build a hospital doesn’t take one year.”
During his periodic Covid-19 televised address last Sunday, President Akufo-Addo said government will within the next one year build 94 hospitals across the country.
Eighty-eight out of these will be 100-bed hospitals in districts which do not have such facilities while six will be built as regional hospitals for the newly created regions.
But Dr Sipa Yankey said even securing a loan facility for such a project takes some time.
Again, he said, such a facility need to a parliamentary approval to qualify it for disbursement.
“Because of these processes to go through, it cannot be possible for any government or anybody to build 88 district hospitals within one year,” he stressed.
He had earlier admonished the government to rather expend on the numerous uncompleted health projects dotted around the country, saying it is “obligatory” to do so.
“Any asset of this country belongs to all of us. It doesn’t belong to the NDC, NPP or to any individual.
“So if we apply taxpayer’s money to build an infrastructure and the infrastructure is not finished before one government comes into power, it is obligatory for that government to continue.”
He considered continuation of projects at different stages of completion much easier than starting a whole new project.
The former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gas Company says an extended credit facility was accessed from the UK government to build seven district hospitals in the previous administration.
One, in Dodowa, has been completed while the rest have been overgrown with weeds, he said.
“The time for the repayment of that loan is ticking,” he bemoaned, urging government to use the available funds from that facility to complete those projects.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana