Kwahu citizens bemoan abandoned Abetifi Hospital project
A Group calling itself Concerned Citizens of Kwahu East last Tuesday went on a demonstration to demand the immediate resumption of construction work on a 120-bed capacity district hospital at Abetifi in the Kwahu East District in the Eastern Region.
Spotting red arm bands, amidst drumming and singing, the demonstrators carried placards with inscriptions such as “Don't forget Abetifi Hospital”, “Why Abetifi Government Hospital abandoned”, “Our health is our concern”, “Abetifi Hospital has been left to rot”, “Complete Abetifi Hospital before starting Agenda 111”, “No hospital no vote” and “Abetifi needs a district hospital”, among others.
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The project, which is 35 per cent complete, was part of a number of health facilities funded by the United Kingdom (UK) government at a cost of US$175 million and was started in 2015 during the erstwhile Mahama administration.
The group said although the hospital should have been completed long ago to serve Abetifi, its environs and the entire district, it had been abandoned, which necessitated the demonstration.
It recalled that in March this year, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong, gave an assurance that the project would be continued when he called on the Paramount Chief of Kwahu, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong II, at his palace at Kwahu-Abene but nothing had happened since the visit.
They wondered why the government should start a new hospital project while others which had already started had been abandoned and, therefore, appealed to the government to ensure its early completion.
Briefing the media after the demonstration, the convener, Mr Ntiamoah Gordon, said because of the lack of a district hospital in the area, the sick had to be rushed to the Atibie Government Hospital far away for medical care.
He indicated that the chiefs in the area were in support of the demonstration, which was corroborated by the Abetifihene, Nana Cheamfour Asiedu Agyemang, when the group presented a petition to him at his palace.
Nana Agyemang told the group that the project was dear to their heart and urged the government to complete it.
He said since governance was a continuous process, it did not matter which government started a project, it must be completed by the present government.
The group also presented a petition to the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Mr Isaac Agyapong.
The petition was, however, received on behalf of the DCE by the Assistant Coordinating Director, Mr Isaac Kodua, who assured them that it would be handed over to the DCE.
The abandoned district hospital project
