$7m Office Complex For NHIA

The Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NIA), Mr. Sylvester Mensah, has inspected progress of work on a five-storey office complete for the authority in Accra. He undertook the tour in the company of members of the NIA Governing Council led by the chairman, Mr. Doe Ajaho, who is also the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament. The seven million dollar complex, which will house the national secretariat of the NIA, has offices for 200 staff a conference room, a service area, training facilities for scheme managers and gymnasium. Speaking to the media, Mr. Sylvester Mensah said when the building was completed [by the third quarter of the year], it would help to consolidate the operations of the authority and also make its work easier. �Currently, operations of the authority are coordinated from three locations within the capital, with the main office housed in a rented apartment,� he explained. Mr. Mensah said because the authority operated from three different locations within the country, coordination of activities were cumbersome. �The National Health Insurance Scheme is one of government�s largest programs but currently it does not have offices for it operations, this sometimes makes work slow� he added. Mr. Ebenezer Akita, a representative of the firm putting up the building appealed to the NIA to adjust payment schedule to enable the contractors to import building materials on time. He said that the building, which was about 45 per cent complete, has facilities to make it easier for the physically challenged to have access to it. The contract for the work was awarded in 2008 to Amaneli Holding Ltd. But actual work started in May last year. At the time of the visit, progress on the building was 12 weeks ahead of schedule.