Government says it will soon announce a roadmap for the reconstruction of the La General Hospital.

According to the government, the announcement will be after the ongoing necessary engagements and consultations are done.

This was revealed by the Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr Nsiah Asare.

“There was supposed to be a facility to do the project, but it didn’t go through hundred percent and so the president has charged the Ministry of Health, and the Office of the Chief of Staff to work on it and make sure that something happens as quickly as possible,” he said in an interview with Citi FM on Tuesday, April 18.

Explaining the rationale behind the demolition, the Dr Nsiah Asare insisted that the project posed a threat to its users at the time.

According to him, it was a “dangerous building” at the time and the best option was to demolish it to save lives and reconstruct same.

“It was a dangerous building with a lot of cracks at the time, and it was risky to put patients who cannot run in case of a disaster at risk, so we decided to demolish it and hoped that it would have been built.”

“The details of when the project will start and what we are going to do there will be announced soon, but currently a lot of engagement is ongoing, and a roadmap will be announced soon,” he added.

Dr Nsiah Asare thus urged the residents to be patient with the government as plans are far advanced for its reconstruction.

“The government is working on it [the hospital] and so they should be very patient because very soon they will see some action at the La General Hospital.”

The health facility was pulled down in March 2020, to pave way for the construction of what the government said would be an upgrade.

Three years on, the site is still literally bare, with no major works ongoing.

This redevelopment project was to be financed by a credit facility from Standard Chartered Bank of the United Kingdom, with an export credit guarantee from China’s Sinosure worth about €68 million with an insurance cover of €3.8 million.

After it was razed down, the people of La have blamed the absence of a proper health facility in the area for what they describe as needless deaths.