THE NEW Nicosia general hospital will finally be ready for operation in January 2005, nine full years since the project first began. It will cost taxpayers a final estimate of £63 million.
But cynics remain unconvinced the hospital will be delivered on time following years of repeated extensions and calls for more money.
Construction of the new hospital started in 1996. It was originally due to be completed by February 2002. The project’s initial budget had been estimated at around £38 million. But two years ago the government extended the 2002 deadline to June 2003, following the contractor’s requests for more time and more money. Then, following further negotiations, the government agreed to a new deadline of July 2004, pushing up the cost of the project to around £50 million.
On Wednesday, the House Watchdog Committee heard that although next year’s deadline would be met, a further £13 million had been added to the final cost. It should be ready for operation by January 2005 but will take around two months fully to transfer the old general hospital to the new one, estimated public works department civil engineer, Savvas Kyriacou, who heads the hospital project.
Kyriacou justified the extensions by pointing out a £3 million Paraplegic Centre had been added to the hospital. This had caused a 45-week extension, he explained. Parking lots costing £4 million and a £2.5 million nursing school had also been added to the original plans.
Further delays were caused by complications with the subsoil foundations, which led to a nine-week extension and cost £500,000; then there was a 15-week extension for the appointment of workers to handle the installation of electrical appliances; and a further one-week extension to investigate the possibility of building an additional floor to the hospital.
The construction of a biological sewage pumping station was already at an advanced stage, he said, and would be ready on the delivery date.
Kyriacou added the new hospital would operate as a paperless hospital with patients’ files, cards and results all available on an internal network. But, according to Health Ministry permanent secretary Andis Tryfonides, having the technology up and running by the July 2004 timeframe could prove tight, due to delays in processing the 23 tenders received to undertake the project, which will be based on existing European systems. However, he said, alternative solutions were being considered in case the system could not be implemented by then.
Committee Chairman, DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides, warned hospital staff would have to be fully trained in time, “so that we don’t get to the point where the building is ready and we can’t operate”.
Referring to the use of MRIs at the hospital and the lack of radiologists on the island, Tryfonides said the ministry was already looking into finding was to deal with staffing problem.
The committee heard any further delays to construction works would be minor and justified. Despite this assurance, Pourgourides requested the committee be informed of issues, which, with the right planning, could avoid further delay.
