The vice-president of the Ghana Institute of Architects has expressed worry over how the government awarded the design contract of Agenda 111 hospitals to Adjaye Associates owned by architect Sir David Adjaye.

According to Foster Osae-Akonnor, the procurement of the contract was not made open because the association did not see any public advertisement to that effect.

“We didn’t see anything in the public media, in the Newspapers, on the PPA website, that this project is being advertised for us to respond to and to be shortlisted or otherwise,” he stated.

Sharing concerns on JoyNews’ NewsFile on Saturday, the vice president said there is a need for the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to explain to Ghanaians the process in arriving at whom won the bid.

“The reason being that there are a lot of players that come into it to get the hospital running, so you first need to get a consultant in place, then you go to the contractors among others before construction can start at the site,” he explained.

He also noted that the government's project in question is a huge one, hence a need for a broader consultation adding that services for works in the industry are not done with urgency.

“You are talking about using the public purse to procure services; how was it done, was it done based on any quality selection process,” he quizzed.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, in Parliament indicated that the government had engaged over 20 local consulting firms for the project, but the architect said the association was unaware of the process.

But Mr Osae-Akonnor said the public need to know “what process was used to select the 20 consultants, was it advertised for 1000s to express interest?”

The vice-president also pointed that “we have over 1000 consultants or professionals within the building environment in the country. Of course, not everybody can be on it, but when you talk about 20, no. To be honest with you, if I were Ken Ofori-Atta, I wouldn’t have said we procured 20.”

He further indicated that the associations' concerns are not just for architects but the procurement processes and institutions that educate people on the industry.

“What case studies are they using to teach them so that they understand best practices and when they come to the working field they would understand how it works.

“You see, we are looking at not today but the future. Remember that we are not talking about only architects; we are talking about the procurement process,” he said.

Mr Osae-Akonnor, therefore, maintains although the association do not have a concrete document from the PPA, he believes there was no public announcement to indicate that professionals are being encouraged or request to express interest.

“We think that they haven’t been opened; they haven’t open it up for all to express interest and support the project.”

The Adjaye Associates was awarded the contract by the government as sod has been cut for the construction of the 111 Health Facilities across the country.

The renowned architect, Sir David Adjaye, is the brain behind the proposed design for the National Cathedral.