Residents of Garu and Tempane Districts in the Upper East Region are calling on government as a matter of urgency to commence construction of the abandoned Garu District hospital. The project, which stalled in 2016 is affecting residents as they struggle to access healthcare services in the area.The construction of the Garu District Hospital started in 2016, but after the project site was cleared for construction to commence, the project stalled. The project, when completed will be the only government hospital serving the two districts.
Expressing their ordeal to Citi News, residents said accessing quality health care from Quality medical center, the only private hospital within the two districts is challenging, and much worse when cases are referred.“The construction of the Garu District Hospital is a matter of concern to us since the only health facility here is a private hospital. We don’t even have a government hospital within the district and government must get the Garu district hospital constructed urgently and the potholes on the road from Garu to Bawku can even let a pregnant woman get miscarriage”. “We are in dire need of the Garu district hospital; sometimes when there are referrals, it affects us a lot and as a matter of urgency we want government to fix the hospital,” some residents told Citi News.
But the District Chief Executive for Garu, Emmanuel Avoka, said his outfit is seeking financial clearance from government to resume work on the project.Mr. Asore said the project was stalled eleven months before the NPP government took over power, but efforts are being made to secure financial clearance from the Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta to continue the project. “There was the call for a complete overview of the project to be financed by the contractor, but the contractor declined and so the Garu district hospital project has been before the Ministers for health and finance awaiting financial clearance.”
SOURCE: CITINEWSROOM