President John Dramani Mahama has directed the contractor on the stalled Eastern Regional Hospital project to return to site, assuring the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs that government will not abandon the long-delayed facility.
“The Eastern Regional Hospital stalled a bit and I have asked that the contractor go back to the site. We will pay him so that we can complete the project,” the President disclosed this during a courtesy call by a delegation of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs led by Nene Sakite II, Paramount Chief of the Manya Krobo Traditional Area and President of the House of Chiefs.
President Mahama said he would cut sod for the commencement of three new hospital projects for the newly created regions, signalling a push to expand healthcare infrastructure across the country.
The assurance on the hospital came as part of a wider briefing the President gave the chiefs on his government’s health agenda, which includes the recently launched Free Primary Healthcare policy designed to complement the National Health Insurance Scheme and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (Mahama Cares). Together, he said, the three tiers of care were designed to improve access to healthcare from the community level all the way up to specialist treatment.
The President told the delegation that government was leveraging renewed investor confidence and a more stable macroeconomic environment to drive infrastructure development across all parts of the country.
He said inflation was down, the cedi had appreciated, debt obligations were being met and the economy had shown resilience against external pressures from the ongoing Middle East conflict.
“We are reaching important milestones and we remain focused,” President Mahama said, adding that following the completion of the IMF bailout programme, the government intended to maintain the fiscal discipline that had delivered the current stability rather than ease off.
He acknowledged, however, that challenges remained, particularly around job creation, noting that the government was counting on private sector investment, industrialisation and agriculture to absorb growing numbers of unemployed young Ghanaians.
Nene Sakite II congratulated the President on his performance since taking office and expressed gratitude for the development projects ongoing in the region.
“I would like to indicate that we are taking note of the work being done around us in the region. And for that, we are greatly appreciative. We are hoping that work will continue till the end,” the chief said.
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang and other senior government appointees were present at the meeting.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
