The Minister for Defence, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to completing the long-delayed Afari Military Hospital project in the Ashanti Region and commencing its operations by September this year.
Following a visit to the military hospital site in Afari last Friday, accompanied by a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Dr. Boamah pledged to address the challenges that have stalled the completion of the project for over six years.
According to him, as part of the follow-up efforts, the Defence Ministry held a meeting this week with Euroget De-Invest, the company responsible for the turnkey hospital construction project.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, February 20, he revealed that discussions aimed to resolve the financial, legal, and technical bottlenecks that have hindered progress.
Initially envisioned to be completed by 2018 under the previous John Mahama administration, the hospital’s timeline was delayed during the tenure of the current administration. The Defence Minister has now demanded that Euroget formally submit all outstanding issues by the close of this week, enabling the government to scrutinize and address them effectively.
Dr. Boamah emphasized that the government is committed to ensuring cost-effective and lawful decisions to protect the public purse while delivering on the promise to operationalize the facility. The Afari Military Hospital project, when completed, is expected to enhance healthcare delivery for the people of the Ashanti Region and the country at large.
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Following our visit to the Afari (Kumasi) Military Hospital last week Friday in the Ashanti region and the further visit to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, I promised to complete the Military Hospital project and begin its operations in September this year.
As a follow-up, this week, we met Messrs Euroget De-Invest the company responsible for this Turnkey Hospital construction project, in my office at the Ministry of Defence.
The essence of the meeting was to iron out the bottlenecks that have combined to delay the hospital project for over 6 years.
President Mahama envisaged the Military Hospital to have been completed latest by 2018, but the NPP administration could not deliver the project for Ghanaians and the people of Ashanti region as envisaged.
To complete the project, we have subsequently demanded that Euroget formally submit their (financial, legal, and technical) issues by close of day tomorrow in order to afford government clarity to scrutinise and contest if need be in order to make cost-effective and lawful decisions to ensure project completion and utilization.
In resetting Ghana for the good people of Ghana, the President John Dramani Mahama Government will also ensure the public purse is protected.
The Military Hospital project will be completed and operationalised.
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