Building 88 hospitals in a year not possible-Seth Terpker to Akufo-Addo

Former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana, Mr Seth Emmanuel Terkper has opined that building 88 hospitals in a year is not possible.
The president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo promised to build 88 district hospitals across the country and 7 regional hospitals to help deliver quality health care services to Ghanaians during and after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Speaking on Atinka TV’s flagship Morning show, Ghana Nie on Wednesday, May 13 2020, Seth Terkper was of the view that building 88 hospitals is impossible because Ghana does not currently have what it takes financially to build 88 hospitals.
“If it is visible it will be difficult, it is not going to be easy. You cannot build 88 hospitals in one year. The reason is 1; I do not know whether the money has been secured, because at the last sitting in parliament there was no request. And as we speak, there is no request in parliament yet,” he said.
He explained further that,”The countries or borrowers who promised to give that money in early March or February have seen that you have gone into downgrade, and with covid-19, your debt is going into 70 percent. So they begin to asses whether you are capable of paying.”
The Former Minister continued that,” There are also some rumours that government could not meet some of its debts and commitments. So whether that money will come in, just like syno-hydro, remember the reason is covid. it may be convenient reason for China or the reasons may be different. So if the money has not come in yet, maybe it is loan with strings attached. So the countries who will give us have suppliers, builders behind for effects who will come in, maybe they have been chosen already. So you can say that if the loan is approved, they will start work.”
However, he added,”They may have done their feasibility but constructing from my experience within a year we could not do 120 schools. We had to pull back from 200 E-schools. In crisis like these, the government should reduce expenditure.”
Seth Terkper was also of the view that, “You may complete some if you prioritise, but not all. From what I know in terms of the pace at which even the best of contractors work, whether it is local or foreign contracts, it will be difficult.”
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori