Government’s agenda 111 risks missing completion deadline – ACeHP Director
The government’s dream of having a hospital in every district dubbed Agenda 111 project risk not coming into fruition as Africa Centre for Health Policy (ACeHP) has cautioned government that it will not meet its scheduled completion deadline under the project.
ACeHP Director, Mr Ahmed Farhan revealed that there has been no progress in most of the sites where construction of such hospital is supposed to be ongoing.
The Agenda 111 project is aimed by the government to bring health facilities and health care to the doorstep of the district to ease pressure on the referral hospitals. These projects include 101 district hospitals, six regional hospitals in the newly created regions, two specialized hospitals in the middle and northern belts, as well as a regional hospital in the Western Region and the renovation of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.
A $100 million start-up fund has been secured by the government through the Ghana Investment Infrastructure Fund (GIIF) for the commencement of the projects.
President Nana Akufo-Addo in August 2021 cut sod in the Ashanti Region to signal the commencement of hospital projects across the country.
Meanwhile, a worried Ahmed Farhan who believes that the project is well intended for the good of Ghanaians, pointed out that any delays will further worsen the country’s health care delivery system.
“I doubt if we will be able to meet the set timelines. It will definitely affect the project lifecycle. The 12-month target that has been set, I presume, will not be to be met. Currently, I think they have been faced with certain challenges that will not permit them to kickstart the physical construction of the hospitals, so I think the 12 months they have set will just not be possible.”
He also alleged that financial constraints could be blamed for the delay in the execution of the various projects.
“What the government needs to do is to make the commitment in constructing those hospitals and injecting the seed capital for the works to be done. Most of the contractors we got in touch with do not want to disclose information, but the indication is that they do not have capital available to move to site and that is what is delaying the start of the project.”
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
