The Minority questions the government’s recent assurance about La General Hospital
The Minority in Parliament has expressed doubts regarding the government’s capability to complete the La General Hospital project. During the presentation of the 2024 Budget on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced that the contractor for the stalled health project would resume work the following week.
This announcement came after Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu assured that the government had locally secured €50 million to fund the reconstruction of La General Hospital.
Despite these assurances, Minority Chief Whip Governs Agbodza, in a statement to journalists, expressed skepticism about the government’s ability to fully fund the project to completion.
Agbodza voiced his frustration, stating, “I am extremely angry that the Finance Minister did not say anything about the suspension of the Bank of Ghana headquarters and pumping that money into the La General Hospital. Now that they are claiming the La General Hospital will cost 50 million Euros, we could have taken part of the 250 million dollars meant for the BoG head office and injected it into the completion of the La General Hospital.”
“We all know that when they say a project is under Government of Ghana support, it means it’s under life support. I don’t foresee the government having 50 million Euros easily to pump into that project,” he said.
He further criticized the government for not allocating funds for coastal defense measures in the budget. Despite the government’s announcement of a GH¢220 million package to aid those displaced by the Akosombo dam spillage and flood-related efforts, Agbodza questioned the adequacy of the amount.
He asked, “What is GH¢220 million supposed to do? Is it supposed to rebuild the school, the hospitals, resettlement, teachers, key workers who have been displaced, or repair roads? What is this supposed to do? That money is really inadequate to do anything. I wish we could have a more comprehensive discussion about this.”
