NPP Fights Mills

The Opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is up-in-arms against President Atta Mills over the new Tarkwa Government Hospital, saying the number one citizen of the land is politically dishonest about the health facility. Whilst inspecting work progress on the new Tarkwa Municipal Hospital on May 18, 2011 during his recent visit to the Western Region, President Mills reportedly �alluded to the effect that he had made his promises good and looking around, he could see that his Government was really working�. However, addressing a news conference yesterday, the Western NPP Caucus in Parliament said, �The allusion, which is a mark of political dishonesty, cannot be allowed to pass without comment� because the project was started by the NPP government but President Mills failed to acknowledge the Kufuor administration. Speaking on the topic, �Setting The Records Right On The New Government Hospital At Tarkwa�, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem Gifty Eugenia Kusi pointed out that it was the NPP Government that made the initiative, sourced for funding and undertook the procurement for its construction before leaving office in January 2009. �The NDC Government has only superintended the construction of the hospital. But a supervisor cannot claim far and more credit than an owner,� the Western NPP Caucus in Parliament stressed.Mrs. Kusi, who is also a Deputy Minority Whip in Parliament, said it was �the Kufuor NPP Government that initiated and made all the provision for the construction of the new Hospital at Tarkwa�. According to her, way back in 2003, the NPP Government negotiated with the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a credit facility of US$34.23 million for the construction of two new modem hospitals, one at Tarkwa and the other at Asante Bekwai. The agreement on the facility, Mrs. Kusi indicated, passed through Parliament in June 2003 and was recorded in the official report of Parliament, the Hansard on June 5 2003 edition, volume 41, column 865-872. She said while waiting for the finalization of the loan agreement by the AfDB, the NPP administration took steps to secure land for the new hospital and provide utilities in advance. In pursuit of this, the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council, per letter dated December 7, 2005, informed the Government of Ghana about the construction of the New Tarkwa Government Hospital. The letter, Mrs. Kusi added, was jointly signed by Nana Osagyefo Kwamena Enimil VI, Omanhene of Wassa Fiase Traditional Council and Nana Kwabena Angu II, Apinto Chief. She said because the land earmarked for the project was already occupied, negotiation for giving-way and compensation had to be undertaken and it was not until January 18, 2007 that the Lands Commission confirmed the completion of the official acquisition of the land and documentation, paving the way for the Tarkwa project to start. Mrs. Kusi said procurement on the Tarkwa and the Bekwai hospitals was completed in 2008 and the Tarkwa project was awarded to Top International Corporation while the Bekwai construction went to Consar Limited. According to her, in anticipation of the heavy workload for the two new hospitals at Tarkwa and Asante Bekwai, some health personnel were even given further training in April 2007. Mrs. Kusi said it was not their intention to say that the President, Professor Atta Mills, should have praised his predecessor for the project. �Nevertheless, it would not also have been out of place to acknowledge the role of his predecessor in this project. �To make it seem that it was a promise he made that he had fulfilled was most disingenuous on the part of the President,� Mrs. Kusi noted. According to her, nobody would have raised a hair if the President had said that for purposes of continuity, he was in Tarkwa to oversee what his predecessor started and how far it had gone, �but not to claim full credit for what he had no hand in its coming�. �How could the President, then candidate Professor Atta Mills, have promised a project which was already in place?� Mrs. Kusi quizzed, insisting that �credit must be given to whom credit is due�.