No Land In Greater Accra For Agenda 111 Project – Oppong Nkrumah
The minister of information Hon Kwadwo Oppong Nkrumah has revealed that the president’s quest to build 111 hospitals hit a snag in Greater Accra Region and some districts as a result of unavailability of lands for the projects. So far the committee led by the Chief of Staff to oversee the construction, securing of lands, consultancy services, contractors, cost and other things have been able to secure about 88 sites of 15 acres of land each to begin the project pending further search for lands for the remaining 23 projects.
According to the minister as a result of the compact nature of Greater Accra region, it is very difficult to get that big tracts of land to undertake that projects. Besides being capital, there are existing hospitals, polyclinics and clinics all over to provide health services for the inhabitants. The minister said the committee had to visit Ashanti Region for the second time for a crunchy meeting to convince the chiefs, opinion leaders and families before they were able to secure lands for the projects as a result of the size of land they requested for the projects.
“Let me say land acquisition for the project was a real tough encounter as some traditional areas initially didn’t want to release lands . In some instances it took the starture of the Chief of Staff to talk through to secure the lands. Besides, the committee wanted unencumbered lands devoid of litigation and quarrels”.
He intimated that all the necessary documentation and fees have been paid before they gave the greenlight for the projects to begin. “People are saying the projects have delayed but a project of this magnitude, you need to do all the necessary ground work, documentation, feasibility studies , consultancy, contractual processes among other things.
He emphasized that the contractors are mostly Ghanaians and they have only twelve months time space to complete the projects. Each project will cost around 17 million dollars and government has put down initial 100 million dollars for initial funding and it’s purely government of Ghana project without foreign funding. The minister indicated that funding will come from our own taxes and so he urged Ghanaians to pay their taxes to enable the project to be completed on time. Oppong Nkrumah advised all Ghanaians to support this project and desist from the discouraging attitudes as the project is for all Ghanaians.
In all, 101 district hospitals , two psychiatric hospitals for the Northern and Middle belts , six new regional hospitals for the new regions and the rehabilitation of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital are all part of the project. The media would be made to monitor the various stages of the project to inform the populace at regular intervals. The projects involve bungalows, layout and other facilities and it’s supposed to employ thousands of Ghanaians health workers, paramedics, ancillary and other staff when completed to work there.
Source :Nana Poku /johnawuniktv@gmail.com
