President John Atta Mills has cut the sod for the refurbishment of the Tamale Teaching Hospital and pledged to fulfil campaign promises to better the lives of Ghanaians.
He said the main reason and purpose for a government to be in power was to work and raise the living standards of the people, which the NDC
government would not veer away from.
The President said what was important was for Ghanaians to continue to remain patient since every citizen would benefit from the fruits of their labour.
"The bond that is binding us will continue to grow from strength to strength and you will all testify at the end of everything."
"Trust us. We are going to fulfil every promise that we made to you during the campaign. What is happening in the Tamale Teaching Hospital today is honouring our part of the bargain," he said.
President Mills said the upgrading of the TTH was long over due and that he made a promise to help improve conditions of the hospital during the 2008 campaign and expressed gratitude that people in Tamale came out in their numbers to welcome him.
The upgrading of the hospital is costing 43.1 million Euros with the Netherlands government supporting with some grants and would be completed within four years.
President Mills expressed gratitude to the three northern regions for overwhelmingly voting for his government during the 2008 election and
stressed that everything would be done to ensure that the north received the development that it deserved.
He said Cabinet was awaiting Parliamentary approval of a 300 million dollar loan for rural electrification for the north while plans were also far advanced to secure a loan to construct the Eastern Corridor roads to ease the pressure on the Tamale-Kumasi-Accra road.
"Let me assure you my brothers and sisters, this is not the end of assistance to the north or to the TTH. There are a lot more to come but we
should console ourselves that since there is life there is hope and we will leave to reap the fruits of our labour," the President said.
Dr Benjamin Kumbour, the Minister of Health, expressed concern about disparity in doctor distribution between the north and the south and that the Ministry had initiated the construction of six polyclinics to deliver
basic to intermediate services to the people of the north.
He said the Ministry would continue to intensify its programme to populate the rural places with health personnel to ensure that quality healthcare delivery to the masses was not compromised.
Dr Ken Sagoe, Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), expressed gratitude to President Mills and his government for fulfilling the promise.
"You were the only Presidential candidate who walked in here to know the status of the hospital and promised to do something about it during the first two years of your administration if you win power."
Dr Sagoe said though the upgrading dream had been fulfilled, there were other teething problems facing the hospital such as staff accommodation, lack of transport and ambulances and other equipment to be put in place to
ensure that the TTH befits its status.
The Kampa Kuya Na, Yakubu Abdulai Andani, the Regent of Dagbon, appealed to the authorities of the University for Development Studies (UDS)
to consider giving a quota for admissions into the Faculty of Medicine to students from the three northern regions to ensure that they stayed back after completion to serve the north.
Mrs. Lidi Remmelzwaal, the Netherlands Ambassador, in a speech read on her behalf commended the long and bond of friendship existing between the two countries and that her government would continue to support Ghana to
execute its projects and programmes especially in the health sector.
She said her government would also support a special programme designed to help improve the capacity of nurses and midwives in the northern sector to enhance quality healthcare delivery.