President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said Agenda 111 is the nation’s biggest ever investment in the health sector.
Speaking at the sod-curring ceremony on Tuesday, the President expressed his excitement at the initiative.
He said: “I am glad that the biggest ever investment in the nation’s healthcare is being made. We have met this morning because of the ravages of Covid-19 which has affected every country on the planet. For us in Ghana not only has the pandemic disrupted our daily lives, but it has also exposed the deficiencies with our healthcare system because of the years of under-investment and neglect.”
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah last week announced that the government has allocated $100 million for the start of the project.
He said the government has secured 88 sites as part of the efforts for the construction of the new hospitals.
“The agenda 111 project which aims at providing 111 district hospitals will commence on Tuesday 17 August 2021. The project will also see to the provision of two specialized hospitals, one for the middle belt, one for the northern belt. These are psychiatric hospitals and then the redevelopment of the Accra Psychiatric hospital.
“There will also be the development of the six new regional hospitals and one extra regional hospital for the Western region. The district hospital project as you recall was first announced in April 2020 by President Akufo-Addo during his 8th Covid update to the nation. It is programmed to take between twelve months to complete each one from the point of commencement Since this announcement the project implementation committee chaired by Chief of Staff Madam Akosua Frema Osei Opare has been delivering a number of objectives
“One, to secure the physical location of 111 sites. Currently, they have secured 88 of those 111 sites. Not just the physical location but also securing title to the parcels of land. 88 out of 111 so far each of these parcels is about 15 acres.
“They have also been procuring the services of consultants. The master project itself has its consultant then for every one of the 111 sites, like it is done in every construction project you need the consultant and the contractors working on it, they have also been delivering on this. They have also been working to secure funding for it and commencement funding of $100million dollars has been made available to the project through the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund. For the project themselves, it is budgeted US$17million for each of the district hospitals, the district and specialized hospitals are being funded by the government of Ghana.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com
