Three years after President Akufo-Addo launched the Agenda 111 project, the Jasikan project in the Oti Region has not witnessed any significant development despite the $1.2 million paid to the contractor as mobilisation fee.

The Jasikan project, since the sod-cutting ceremony is still at the ground level.

JoyNews’ visit to the site indicated that no work has commenced on the project.

Parliamentary Affairs Correspondent, Kwaku Asante joined the Minority MPs on the Health Committee touring sites of the Agenda 111 Hospitals on Friday, January 27 to inspect the progress of the project at Jasikan.

Ranking Member on Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said it is worrying for the project to be at its current stage, taking into account the amount of money invested into the project.

“Records available to us, each of these sites have been given not less than one million dollars, Jasikan has been given $1.2 which is more than GH₵15 million.

“The only thing that convince me that – that particular site was for Agenda 111 was the sign board. Nobody would have convinced me that, that place is not a football park,” he said.

Mr. Ankadoh explained that it was very unusual for a contractor to receive funds for government project and still not begin.

“If you take government’s money for more than one year and you are not working. I mean what kind of project is this?

“This Agenda 111 was brought under the presidency so one would have expected that seriousness and the due diligence would have been higher than any other project but unfortunately nothing is being done on these sites,” he bemoaned.

The legislator stressed that during the sod-cutting ceremony, the President insisted that the project would last 12 to 18 months to complete the project.

However, the President said the project was going to be completed before 2024.

Mr. Akandoh said records about the site suggest that the project would be completed in 2027.

“Don’t create the impression you are going to finish the project before 2024 if you think that you are starting something but someone will come to continue.”  

Chief of Jasikan bemoaned the delay of the project stressing that the government is politicizing the project.

“Everything has been turned into politics, but it is not everything that should be politicised…everything about Jasikan has been politicised. You can check the progress of Agenda 111 at Kadjebi, but ours is still at the grounds level as if we are not part of Ghana,” the Chief said.

It would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo announced Agenda 111 project in April 2020 and performed the ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, at the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region.

Each unit was projected to cost US$17 million and all the hospitals were expected to be completed within 12 months.

Then in March 2022, the Health Ministry said it has no information on the government’s Agenda 111 project.

The comment was contained in its response to a JoyNews request for information on the government projects tagged to be “the largest investment in healthcare infrastructure in the country since independence.”