Drama ensued on Thursday at the construction site for the much publicised Lubowa International Hospital as security tried to evict the contractor, Roko Construction Company Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The standoff which involved Roko Construction boss, Mark Koehler,\nstarted when Enrica Pinnetti, the boss of FINASI tried to evict the\nconstruction company from the site and replace it with China Power, a\nconstruction firm based in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roko is the government approved contractor for the project\nwhile FINASI is the equipment supplier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This project has been in the news in the last few weeks\nafter it emerged that the bank has released $87m for the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reports had indicated that Trade Development Bank released\nthe money to Stanbic Bank but only $50m reached the account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, with yesterday\u2019s controversy to replace the contractor\nbrings the entire project into jeopardy as the bank and government are not\naware of the new schemes to bring a new contractor on board without necessary approvals\nfrom parliament and government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When contacted, Roko Construction boss, Mark Koehler confirmed the developments describing the situation as absurd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BACKGROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Early this year, Parliament approved a guarantee of USD 379\nmillion (1.4 trillion Shillings) for the construction of an International\nSpecialized Hospital in Lubowa, Wakiso district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The facility with a 264-bed specialized Healthcare capacity\nwill be operated as a world-class internationally accredited facility to treat\nconditions for which Ugandans have been travelling abroad. The conditions\ninclude cancer treatment, heart diseases, organ transplant, fertility\ntreatment, highly specialized surgeries, and bone marrow transplant, among\nothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The government sought authorization of parliament for the\nproject following a proposal by the Italian investors Finasi Roko Construction\nSPV Limited, a major member of the FINASI-RoKo consortium, an entity which\nspecializes in the construction of turnkey health care facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The investor wanted to have the project financed through a\npromissory note from the Ugandan government as a public-private\npartnership. Under the arrangement, the\ngovernment will finance the firm to construct and run the specialized facility\nand payback within eight years from the commencement of operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the request was queried by Members of Parliament who\nquestioned why the government had to invite an investor, who has to be\nguaranteed with huge sums of money. They also objected to the high-interest\nrate of 477 billion Shillings and the purpose of financing the facility,\nconsidering the poorly financed hospitals across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the request was endorsed by the National Economy\nCommittee of Parliament which had been given a task to review the application\nand interact with key players in the health and finance sectors to establish\nwhether the partnership has value for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Members also rejected a minority report which had been\npresented by Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze, to block the funding. In\nsupport of the Minority report, Butambala County MP Muwanga Kivumbi said that\nthe cost of constructing the hospital is exaggerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bunyole West MP James Waluswaka says the proposal is risky.\nHe faulted the government for picking on an investor without undertaking a\nbidding process to guarantee that anyone who gets the promissory note is\nselected on merit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal says that the specialized\nwomen hospital was built at only about USD 25 million (92 billion Shillings)\nfar less than the USD 379 million (1.4 trillion Shillings) that is needed by\nthe investors to construct the International Specialized Hospital. She says\nthere is a possibility that all parts of the proposal constitute illegality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the doubts, Parliament sanctioned the proposal. The\nspeaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga observed that the project is of immense\nbenefit to Ugandans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the breakdown of the money, the purchase,\ndelivery and installation of medical equipment, hospital furniture, testing,\ncommissioning and training will cost 370 billion Shillings, civil works\nexcluding mobilization costs will cost 320 billion Shillings, medicines and\nconsumables for a year are budgeted at \n62 billion Shillings and preliminary project development is 50 billion\nShillings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Government is expected to take over the hospital after ten\nyears according to the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FINASI-RoKo consortium has reportedly innovated and\ndeveloped specific know-how in the Healthcare field delivering state of the art\nfacilities and providing solutions and added value services to its clients.\nSome of its projects are Sharg Al Nile hospital in Khartoum and Famboni General\nHospital in Comoros among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Drama ensued on Thursday at the construction site for the much publicised Lubowa International Hospital as security tried to evict the contractor, Roko Construction Company Ltd. The standoff which involved Roko Construction boss, Mark Koehler, started when Enrica Pinnetti, the boss of FINASI tried to evict the construction company from the site and replace it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":9591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[458,98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-9590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n