HIGH-RANKING officials bear responsibility for the delay of the opening of the new Nicosia General Hospital, according to an Investigative Committee, which presented its findings yesterday to the Communications and Works Minister.
Construction on the new hospital began in 1997, with the opening date initially projected for mid-2003; the costs, initially projected at £67 million, quickly escalated to £100 million.
Even if the hospital were up and running by February 2006, as is currently hoped under the most optimistic scenario, this would still constitute an almost three-year delay, with the original opening date projected for mid-2003.
The four-person Investigative Committee was assembled by the cabinet in May 2004 to overlook and review the construction of the new hospital in Latsia.
Head of the Investigative Committee Yiannakis Chrysostomis told reporters yesterday that he could not yet detail the findings of the report, which he had just submitted to the Communications Minister, but he confirmed that the report consisted of around 100 testimonies and that “certain responsibilities have been identified”.
Chrysostomis said that the individuals came from Ministries and other government services, and included high-ranking officials.
Responding to questions, Health Minister Andreas Gavrielides said that the ministry is working “feverishly” and is “doing everything in its effort” to meet his personal goal that the new hospital open by the end of February.
In March, Gavrielides told the House Health Committee that the new hospital should be up and running by December, although he noted that it would require “a lot of effort” and that he would also be “very satisfied” if it was ready by the first or second month of 2006.
Despite his optimistic assertion to stick to his pledge date – even though technically the date was December – Gavrielides then said that they had “reached a very critical stage” in assuring that they will be able to find and train the necessary staff and to make the transition from the old hospital to the new hospital.
“The project to erect the new Nicosia General Hospital is the largest and most complicated economic project that has been constructed in Cyprus,” said Communications and Works Minister Harris Thrasou after receiving the report from the Investigative Committee.
Thrasou said that hospital’s area has been increased from 65,000 square metres to 10,000 square metres due to the addition of a Paraplegic Centre, an expansion of underground parking spaces, an increase in the space and specifications of the Nursing School and granting of donations, and an upgrade of the incinerator.
Thrasou also said that the sum of the contract – submitted on February 2, 2004 – was £37.4 million, adding that the expected cost for the buildings and electromechanical equipment is projected at around £63 million, and the medical equipment at roughly £20 million.
The construction of the new hospital has been plagued by allegations of mismanagement of funds and kickbacks. At the turn of the year, the President characterised the delay of the new hospital’s opening as “the biggest scandal since the establishment of the Republic”.
The delays also led to the arrival on the island of inspectors from the European Investment Bank, which offered a 50 million euro loan to the government for construction of the hospital.
The beleaguered endeavour fell into further troubles in April when the project chief of the new hospital, Savvas Kyriacou, resigned, citing “bureaucracy, scandalous behaviour, and the rotten mentality” of certain ministry officials whom he claimed were trying to stonewall the construction to damage his reputation.
