Tamale Teaching Hospital contractor bankrupt

Work on the €48.5 million second phase expansion works at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), the premier hospital in the three northern regions to upgrade it into an 800-bed facility has come to a standstill.

The project, according to documents sighted by DAILY GUIDE, is supposed to be completed in the first quarter of 2017 to improve healthcare delivery within the three regions of the north as it serves as the only referral hospital in the area.

To this end, President John Mahama during the commissioning of the first phase promised the construction of a five-storey block with medical and surgical wards, faculty offices, tutorial and conference rooms; a second five-storey block with operating theatres, maternity wards and facilities; a three-storey accident and emergency building and reception area, as well as beds for emergencies in the second phase.

A link building, a new mortuary with pathology unit and laboratory; a new medical gases plant; assorted medical equipment; ancillary facilities including power plant; waste management section, staff accommodation and other ancillary facilities are to be included.

DAILY GUIDE’s investigations have, however, uncovered that the project cannot be completed on schedule in view of the fact that Simed International (BV), the contractor, has officially gone bankrupt.

The Dutch company, the paper can confirm, was declared bankrupt by the court in Midden-Nederland by termination of the suspension of payment on April 23, 2015.

Copies of documents sighted by DAILY GUIDE revealed one M.J. Cools was appointed curator with the insolvency number of the case being F.16/15/322.

Our checks at the project site also revealed that workers of Simed International (BV) vacated the site somewhere in mid May 2015 and have since left the country, stalling progress of work.

No equipment was spotted on site at the time of DAILY GUIDE’s visit, giving credence to the fact the much-talked job about by government communicators had been abandoned.

Portions of the project which were sublet to CONSAR Limited, our investigations revealed, have also been abandoned, leaving behind open drains which have become fertile grounds for breeding mosquitoes and toads.

Deep throat sources at the hospital confirmed that the matter has been communicated to the central government, and there are plans to liaise with the Dutch government to source another company to continue work on the stalled project.

It would be recalled that ex-President J.A Kufour in 2007 signed an agreement with the Dutch government for the extension, modernisation and rehabilitation of existing structures at the hospital in view of its deplorable state at the time.

The cost of the project then stood at €75 million which the Dutch government was to provide 53 percent while the Ghana government took up 22 percent as counterpart funding.

The project was in two folds, with the first phase completed by the current government in 2012 and has since been put to use, while uncertainties seem to be hanging around the major one which is a source of campaign for the ruling party.