Governor Otu orders investigation into hospital construction contract

The Cross River State Department of Medical Services has been given the directive to look into the budgeting and spending for the ongoing building of the general hospitals in the Effraya-Etung and Akpabuyo Local Government Areas by Governor Bassey Otu.

He also criticized the state’s other hospitals for their sloppy management of construction and remodeling projects, calling it “a flagrant negation of bidding and contractual obligations.”

While touring the now-closed referral hospital in Effraya, Etung Local Government Area, the governor issued a statement through the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk.

Ayuk was shocked to learn that a contract of this size had been handled by using in-house workers instead of a respected engineering firm.

The government disapproves of how much work is being done here, he said. Less than 30% of the job is completed here.

Ayuk also criticized the project managers for not including the Ministry of Health in the oversight role it should have played during the project’s development and implementation.

He did, however, give his word that underserved local government districts like Akpabuyo, Bakassi, Etung, Boki, and Ikom would be prioritized for renewed health service investments by the administration.

In order to give his ‘People First’ agenda, notably in the health sector, a boost, he stated that the administration is committed to finishing all active health initiatives.

State Medical Director Dr. Stephen Agbor said that the Ministry of Health had never been informed of any hospital building projects in the state.

In response, Site Engineer Innocent Tateh stated that everything was done in accordance with direct labor, as ordered by “superior authority.”