By News Desk
The Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Apraku Twum Barimah has said government has not abandoned the Kumasi Military project as being speculated by some cynics.
Speaking to the media in an interview, Hon, Apraku Twum said works on the 500-bed Military Hospital being constructed by Euroget De_Invest at Afari in the Ashanti Region is near completion and about to begin operations.
He said plans are being made for the President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo to hand over the hospital which is about 95 percent complete to the Ghana Armed Forces to start operations. The contractors, Euroget De-Invest, are expected to hand over the facility to the government of Ghana by November 2021.
According to Honourable Twum Barimah, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Euroget De-Invest, an Egyptian capital investment company, Dr Said Deraz had earlier said major parts of the project would be handed over to government in November 2021, which is next two months.
He said the OPD, wards, casualty/emergency unit, and various clinics have already been completed way ahead of schedule and that equipment and fittings for the remaining works were near completion.
The Afarisaid the Military Hospital is one of nine hospital projects being constructed by Euroget De-Invest across the country. Two of the hospitals— Wa Regional Hospital in the Upper West Region and the Ga East Municipal Hospital in Kwabenya in the Greater Accra Region have already been completed and handed over to the government and are in use.
Sources at Euroget De-Invest rejected claims by some political opportunists that the project has been abandoned quizzing, “How can such a major project be abandoned? This is not possible. We are on scheduled and will hand over to government of Ghana as planned.”
When it fully operational, the military hospital in Kumasi would be the second biggest
Military health care facility in Ghana after the 37 military hospital. It is strategically positioned to serve the Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Northern, North East Savannah, Upper West and Upper East Regions as well as the neigbouring countries.
Construction of the medical facility, which commenced in 2014, and scheduled to be completed in July 2016, stalled because of delayed tax exemption approvals. The tax exemption, was eventually granted in 2017 by the NPP government after the contractor, Messrs EDI, had been on site for almost three years.
The project suffered contractual disputes between the main contractor, Messrs EDI and the sub-contractor, Messrs MBS and Messers Hanisa, which lasted for eight months, leading to the (termination) of the sub-contracts.
The ministry however re-awarded the sub-contracts to new sub-contractors, Messers Africa Building Partners and Messers Core Construction, which took a while too due to background checks that were required and completion of all necessary documentation.
The new sub-contractors moved to site finally in November 2018 to commence work which has steadily progressed to date without break.
Scheduled to be built at Tamale, the project was relocated to Accra, before it was finally moved to its current location at Afari. The agreement for the facility was signed between the government of Ghana and Messers Euroget Da Invest SA in August 2008, for the 500-bed facility with residential staff housing as a Turnkey project to be completed within 42 months of commencement. With the project credit facility approved by Parliament in November 2018, the contract agreement was revised in January 2010.
