The Minority in Parliament has criticized the government over delays in the construction of the La General Hospital.

The health facility was demolished in March 2020 for redevelopment due to the dilapidated nature of the structures.

Two years on, work is yet to commence on the site despite several assurances from the government.

During an inspection of the site by some members of the Minority in Parliament, it emerged that weeds had taken over portions of the land.

Speaking to journalists, the Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, attributed the delay in the construction to the misapplication of the over 60 Million Euro funds allocated for the project.

He asked the government to complete the abandoned project to prove to Ghanaians that funds meant for the construction had not been misapplied.

“The facility we saw two years ago is still a park and the people of La deserve better than this. It has gone beyond the Minister because he has lied about it. The Minister’s attention was drawn to it on the floor of the House, and he gave a series of excuses and promised further to commence the construction and complete it, but we still are here.”

“A facility which cost about 68 million euros, and you have only one trip of sand and gravels on the site. From all indications, work will not commence any moment from now. I am strongly convinced that they have misapplied the money. I want to be proven wrong. If they have not misapplied the money, they should come to the site and start work”

The Member of Parliament for La Dade-Kotopon, Rita Odoley Sowah, also appealed to the government to ensure that the facility is constructed to serve the health needs of residents in the area.

“The people of La are in pain. We need a health facility. We are calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to put up the hospital for us.”

President Nana Akufo-Addo cut sod for the construction of the site over a year ago, but work on the project has since stalled.

The project is being financed by a credit facility from Standard Chartered Bank of the United Kingdom, with an export credit guarantee from Sinosure of the People’s Republic of China, to the tune of €68 million with an insurance cover of €3,860,349.18.

The project is to be undertaken by a Chinese company, Poly Changda.

Upon completion, it will be transformed into a 160-bed facility and will be fitted with an outpatient department; inpatient wards; maternity and neonatal services; surgical unit with four theatres; accident and emergency department; public health department; pharmacy unit; laboratory; administration; imaging area, with CT Scan, X-ray room, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, mammography units; physiotherapy unit; and a mortuary.

The facility, which was formerly known as the La Polyclinic, was established in the early 1960s.