The Minister for Information, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has announced that the government of Ghana’s Agenda 111 will begin on Tuesday, 17th August 2021.
According to him, the project is seeking to deepen the health care delivery and ensure that every Ghanaian can access high quality health care at all district levels.
Under this Agenda, one hundred and one district hospitals will be established as announced earlier by President Nana Akuffo Addo during his 8th address to the nation on covid-19 in April 2020, the Minister of Information revealed.
“The project will also see to the provision of 2 specialized hospitals. One for the middle belt and one for the northern belt of the country, these are psychiatric hospitals and then a redevelopment of Accra Psychiatric Hospital. There will also be the development of 6 new regional hospitals and one extra regional hospital for the Western Region.”
Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
The Minister for Information further explained that, the establishment of these 2 specialized hospitals, the development of 6 new regional hospitals, the one additional hospital for Western Region and the redevelopment of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital will all be joined together with the initial project of constructing 101 hospitals to become 111 hospitals in total.
In a press briefing in Accra, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah clarified that the program is designed to take 12 months for each unit of the 111 hospitals to be built from the point of commencement.
Project Implementation
Subsequent to the Agenda 111 announcement by the President, the Project Implementation Committee (PIC) led by the President’s Chief of Staff, Madam Akosua Frema Opare had worked collectively and effectively to secure and acquire ownership of 88 out of 101 sites, the Minister for Information revealed.
He also disclosed that, the Project Implementation Committee had engaged services of consultants for each of the 111 projects and master consultant for the entire project to be undertaken.
Moreover, Hon.Kojo Oppong Nkrumah mentioned that the PIC has acquired a start-up funding of $100 million from Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF). Meanwhile, a budget of nearly $17 million has been allocated for each of the district hospitals to be built.
The minister in charge for information stated clearly that, the district and specialized hospitals are being funded by the government. However, for the regional hospitals, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) arrangement have been put in place and it is associated with its own funding.
According to Hon. Oppong Nkrumah, “contractors for the projects have also been procured and are commencing work with the first set starting from this week. Preference was given to local contractors and local labor because it will also be the demonstration of what we call Ghanaian excellence. That will, among other things, showcase what the Ghanaian construction and engineering community [are] also capable of doing”.
Economic Benefits
Touching on the benefits, the Minister of information indicated that the Ghana Agenda 111 hospital construction project will provide about 1000 jobs for health care workers that will be recruited and posted to these facilities. Aside health care workers, this project will also make jobs available to ancillary workers whose contributions are key to this health care exercise.
The Minister of Information also uncovered that under the Agenda 111 program, critical housing will be given to health care workers to act as supplementary economic layer to them in service of the local communities.
Commencement and Tracking
On Tuesday, the President will observe the commencement of works at ‘Kyerede’ in the Ashanti region for which all contractors in other districts are expected to begin work immediately after, the minister announced.
Hon. Kojo Nkrumah also declared that, “the government calls on all individuals especially local beneficiary communities, traditional leaders, youth and all actors in the local health sector to give their full support for the benefit of our people across the country”.
The government advised local communities to show desirous interest in the Agenda 111 program and support not just the commencement but to track the progress too.
The Minister for information considers the Agenda as a significant batch of health care initiative that Ghana is about to embark on since independence.
He further announced that, throughout the construction process, the Ministry of Information will provide to the media periodic updates and site visits, at least on monthly basis.
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