Agenda 111: Should we cry or should we laugh? – Kwesi Pratt Jnr quiz

Ace Journalist and Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr has quizzed what feelings Ghanaians should express in the wake of government agenda 111 hospital projects.

Reacting to news of the commencement of the project on Tuesday, August 17 on Good Morning Africa on Pan African TV, he quizzed whether Ghanaians should cry or laugh.

Raising several pertinent questions about the hospital project on the programmme monitored by GhanaPlus.com on Thursday August 19, he said the development was hilarious and makes him want to laugh but also painful and that makes him want to cry at the same time.

He reacted to the agenda 111 hospitals project expected to be completed in 18months this way.

 “18years ago, we all trooped to the Police Hospital in Accra and cut the sod for the commencement of the rehabilitation on the Police Hospital in Accra. 18years on, the Police Hospital rehabilitation works have not been completed. Last year we want to South La Estate and pull down a whole polyclinic amongst pop and pageantry today that site is a football field for primary school kids, should we cry or should we laugh?”.

“Now we are being told the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has gone to cut the sod for the commencement of his dream project of building 111 hospital and we go back and find out that only last year the Health Minister cut the same sod. Only last year, the Health Minister cut the same sod at the same place so should we cry or should we laugh?”

“And if you read the media report on the start of this project is so sad. Look we have not secured funding for this project… we are now groping in the dark to find the resources to do this. What did we do?. We gave the contract to Ghanaian contractors. we are not sure how we are going to get funding for the project, we are still groping in the dark to find resources for the project, we call Ghanaian contractors and said move your equipment to site and start the work.Now there is a Tema Motorway project for which we have funds. The funds are ready, we are going to take the money from our Infrastructural Development Fund, what did we do?  We called in a South African contractor and said you take this one, this one is juicy, everything is ready ,the money is ready, if you do this we are not going to be in trouble. South African contractor you are going to do that but as for our contractors go and do the project which has no funds. Should we laugh or should we cry?”.

“ If care is not taken we are going to get into the same situation which led to the banking sector reforms because these contractors are going to take loans from Ghanaian banks to start the project.  There is no guarantee that they are going to be reimburse. There is going to be huge holes in the accounts of the banks. The banks are going to suffer liquidity problems as a result. Are we going to do another banking sector reforms? I don’t know. Should we cry or should we laugh?  and yet there is so much noise.

“I mean yesterday, I read some news paper headlines that this is the most significant intervention in the health sector since independent. Who said that, dreams have become interventions. What is wrong with our country? Look if the politicians were doing this alone perhaps no problem because people have come to accept that as for this our politicians this is how they behavior but when the whole of society  and the media is involve in this hype then there is a problem. Who do you believe now. I haven’t seen one publication, one broadcast which has pointed out that this sod cutting ceremony happened a year ago and this is a repeat. That is significant information. How many headlines today are telling us that there is no money for the project and that the total amount of money committed for building 111 hospitals is $100m that is far less than 20% of the resources needed to build 111 hospitals and yet we are all wallowing in blissful useless propaganda and am asking myself what should we do? Because I feel like crying but at the same time, I feel like laughing because it sounds like a huge joke, is painful it makes you feel like crying and it hilarious it make you feel at the same time like laughing. What a joke”.

Agenda 111 Commence on Tuesday

Agenda 111, a hospital projects to address the infrastructural challenges facing the country’s health care sector commenced on Tuesday, August 17 after a sod cutting ceremony by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.

The project, would see to the design, procurement, construction, equipping and commissioning of 101 District Hospitals, 6 Regional Hospitals in newly created regions, as well as 1 Regional Hospital in the Western Region, 2 Psychiatric Hospitals in Kumasi and Tamale and a redeveloped Accra Psychiatric Hospital.

When completed, the hospitals would host state of the art surgical theaters for maternity, obstetrics and gynecology, a full complement of male, female, pediatric and isolation wards, among others.

Source: GhanaPlus.com