Chiefs visit La General Hospital construction site

The delegation from the La Traditional Council and LaDMA inspecting ongoing works at the residential block at the site Photo Victor . A Buxton

A delegation from the La Traditional Council and the La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA) has visited the La General Hospital site to ascertain the progress of work and challenges being faced.

Led by Nii Adjei Koofeh IV, La Shikitele (Kingmaker), the visit was necessitated by agitation from La residents and other interested stakeholders in the assembly on the over delay in reconstructing the hospital.

The hospital edifice was demolished in July 2020, due to severe structural issues reported by the hospital’s administration.

As at the time of the visit, work was ongoing with excavation being done for the main facility, while the portion for residential block had been raised above ground level.

Briefing the delegation, the Project Manager of Vista, the Consulting firm, Richard Dadey, gave the assurance that the project would be completed within 28 months at a cost of 50 million euros.

He said the project, initially pegged to cost 57 million euros, was reviewed downwards after certain overhead costs were remove, but the scope of work on the facility remained unchanged.

Mr Dadey said as of the moment all demarcations works needed on site had been carried out and other aspects of the facility would be constructed after they become certain of how deep excavation works should go underground.

The manager also told the members of the Traditional Council that though the government just released mobilisation fund on the project, the actual work on the project began last year contrary claims in the public domain.

According to him, after completion, the new facility would house a five-storey Out-Patience Department, emergency, accident and other wards, administration and other offices.

The facility would also have seven-storey residential block, mortuary and other attachments.

According to the Nii Koofeh IV, the council was pleased that the project had started, but it was concerned that the original plan of facility would not be affected by the reduction of the cost.

He therefore, asked contractors to share the original plan with the council for monitoring, and expressed the hope that the project would be completed as scheduled to enable residents to access health care easily without stress.

He also pleaded with the contractors to employ the services of the locals in the community to make use of the locals in the community, since most of the residents have the skills to support.

On his part, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of LaDMA, Solomon Kotey Nikoi, said the visit was very necessary, since the traditional leaders are the custodian of the land and their role in developmental projects in the assembly.

The MCE said the inclusion of locals in the community was necessary because it would create jobs.

BY VICTOR. A BUXTON