With 70 per cent of work – including a completed administrative block – already done on the 500-bed project, officials believe the September 2019 handover schedule is attainable.

Engineers, artisans and labourers at the 260,000m² site are currently involved with mainly finishing elements as the project – considered to possess the character of a tertiary hospital – finally takes shape.

Islam Sharawy, the Resident Manager for project contractors Euroget De-invest, said the remaining 30 per cent work comprised finishing on the main physical infrastructure, installation of equipment, the laying of the six-kilometre internal road network and over 40 acres of landscaping.

He told the Daily Graphic at the Afari site last Saturday that the different categories of the 650 workforce were constantly engaged on site, including weekends, in order to meet the delivery timeline.

The completed Administrative Block

Fast-track schedule

At the site last Saturday, the work of artisans – including painters, plumbers, carpenters, fabricators and electricians – typified the busy environment and appeared to give weight to the timeline projections by the contractors.

Mr Sharawy praised the sub-contractors, Africa Building Partners, for attaching diligence to the work since coming on board in November 2018.

He said 80 per cent of medical equipment for the hospital had already arrived in Ghana and would be transported from warehouses in Tema when the relevant components of the project were completed.

Designed to be a referral facility to take off some burden from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, the Military Hospital will have all the normal components of a medical centre, including 17 specialist clinics, pharmacy units, theatres, laboratories, a kitchen, a laundry and a morgue.

In addition, it will have treatment plants for water, sewerage and medical waste and have an internal gas-generating system where oxygen will be processed from the fresh air and distributed to the relevant units.

It boasts a car park that can contain 750 vehicles at a time, a helipad to receive emergencies by helicopters and seven different flats of staff accommodation.

Islam Sharawy (left), Resident Manager, Euroget de invest, briefing Mr. Michael Quaye on progress of the work at the Military Hospital at Afari

Warranty

Rather impressively, the contractors have given out a three-year warranty and maintenance deal on their equipment and facilities with the hospital owners and will offer training to relevant persons on important installations within the hospital as part of a somewhat goodwill gesture.

Mr Sharawy compared the hospital’s modestly complex form – in terms of the profile of its capacity – to a teaching hospital and said if manned by qualified personnel, it should be able to undertake the most complex of known medical conditions.

But beyond these, it has already impacted the local economy through the employment of labourers and artisans and is expected to improve things for residents and professionals through direct and indirect jobs.

“The contractors will expand the road network around the hospital into dual carriage roads to contain the expected traffic when the hospital begins operation”, Mr Sharawy said.

“We have done a traffic assessment on the roads around the hospital and we envisage a growth in traffic along the roads.

That is why we will expand the roads into dual carriages as part of the project,” he added.

The hospital is one of nine projects being undertaken by Euroget De-invest in 10 regions.