Health Minister presses ahead with new hospital

HEALTH Minister Andreas Gavrilides has reiterated his personal goal to operate the new Nicosia general hospital by the end of the year or early in the next year, it was reported yesterday.
The minister said weekly meetings are being held, which look into developments in the tender procedures and the transfer from the old hospital.

The project was initially expected to be complete by mid-2003 at a cost of £67 million, however, the cost has since skyrocketed to £100 million and there has not yet been any indication as to when the hospital would be up and running.

Construction of the hospital started back in 1997 and was expected to be complete around five years later.

But a succession of delays and endless modifications and additions – which many observers say could and should have been factored in at the outset – has painted a picture of dereliction of responsibility and gross mismanagement of state funds.

One of the most telling signs of the malaise is the status of the medical equipment needed for the hospital. So far, only eight of the 20 packages have been ordered, and not all of the equipment received is in place.

In fact, the Electromechanical Services, one of the two government agencies assigned to handle tenders for the equipment, has reportedly not ordered a single package yet.

On top of that, the contractor has threatened to abandon the project unless he was paid £1 million.

Communications minister Harris Thrasou said they were meeting the contractor today in a bid to resolve the matter.

“The contractor had no right to abandon the construction site,” Thrasou said.

The minister added that the contractor should implement the architect’s decision and if there were any differences then he could apply for arbitration.

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