• Minority had accused the Ministry of spending GH¢636m meant for the 'Agenda 111' project prior to the sod cutting for works to begin
• But the Ministry has denied the allegations and offered clarity on the funds disbursed for the project
The Ministry of Finance has clarified assertions made by the Minority in Parliament that government had already spent GH¢636 million on the 'Agenda 111' project prior to the sod cutting for works to begin.
This comes after government on Tuesday August 17, 2021, cut sod for the commencement of work for the ambitious 101 out of a 111-hospital project which seeks to scale up healthcare infrastructure across the country and set to be completed in 18 months.
A statement issued by the ministry on August 19, 2021 however explained that in 2020, GH¢600 million was released to the Health Infrastructure Account at Bank of Ghana (BoG) to support the implementation of the District and Regional Hospital Projects.
“This is the equivalent of the US$100 million US Dollars as announced by government and will be disbursed to contractors in accordance with the project work plan. The said amount had been released into the project account at the BoG but not utilized yet. Project commencement has just begun. So far, only GH¢36 million has been released as part of pre-construction mobilization”
“Following the commencement of actual project execution as evident in the sod cutting ceremony of 17th August 2021, we expect to drawdown various amounts from the account which would be managed by the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF),” the ministry clarified.
The Finance Ministry reiterated its commitment to the fulfilment of the project and thus assured the public that government remained poised to tackling Ghana’s health infrastructure deficit.
“In this regard, we will ensure the use of local teams comprising of Ghanaian consultants, project managers and construction firms to execute the project and also ensure due process during disbursement and procurement,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo speaking at the sod cutting of the ‘Agenda 111’ project said that each of the hospitals will cost US$16.88 million.
