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Government has incurred the wrath of the people of the Upper West Region for what they described as a deliberate attempt to deceive them after cutting a sod for a 160-bed hospital which is yet to see a shovel of mortar. After Vice President John Dramani Mahama graced the sod-cutting ceremony on July 31, 2010 which was trumpeted by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) propagandists as one of its unprecedented achievements, the project site is still in its virgin state, overgrown with weeds. The project, according to DAILY GUIDE�s investigations, is one of the eight hospitals government allegedly awarded to an Egyptian company EuroGet De-Invest S.A., under the supervision of Ministry of Health. The Deputy Minority Leader, Ambrose P. Dery, had expressed doubts about its feasibility, and it is becoming clear that the Lawra-Nandom legislator could be right. Government, prior to the sod-cutting ceremony, said it was part of the launch of what it termed the Ghana-Eight Number Hospitals Project. Residents of the Upper West Region were made to believe their yet-to-be-constructed hospital would be equipped with new facilities including 160 beds to promote good healthcare delivery in the region. But this has become a hoax as there is no contractor or materials at site to suggest that work will start soon. It was gathered that the Ghana Eight Number Hospitals project was a concessionary credit from EuroGet De-Invest S.A. of Egypt, and would cost $339million but questions are being asked why work had not commenced two years after award of contract. Angry residents who spoke to DAILY GUIDE in Wa said the undue delay in the construction of the Upper West regional hospital, which was crucial to the region, would certainly make the Mills administration to lose massive votes in the coming elections. According to a section of the people, the undue delay in the construction of the hospital demonstrated that the project was a political gimmick by the NDC government. They told DAILY GUIDE that people now felt the NDC sought to throw dust into the eyes of the discerning people of the region and make them victims and not supporters of the NDC. An opinion leader in the region who spoke to DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity indicated that the ruling NDC ought to know that in modern politics, politicians were merely regarded as ordinary men and women who were accountable to ordinary constituents who wielded the power to empower or dislodge a government. Meanwhile, a visit to the site revealed that the corrugated iron roofing sheets that were used to barricade the project site for work to commence had given way to a recent storm that hit the town. The site was barricaded when residents complained that they had not seen work there but a recent storm blew everything away. The Upper West Region, since 1992, has been one of the strongholds of the ruling party; but government�s inability to fulfill a campaign promise it made to the people who have over the years expressed their loyalty to the NDC leaves much to be desired. Residents were of the conviction that the new facility will ease their travels to and from Tamale for referrals which they said were draining their resources.