A total of 100 patients at the Korle-Bu Cardiothoracic Centre have had their surgery delayed owing to inadequate funds. A surgeon at the centre, Dr Lawerence A. Sereboe, who announced this in Accra at a cash presentation ceremony by the Ghana Chamber of Mines explained that the centre is presently competing with several organisations for support in donations.

This, he said, has led to a reduction in the pattern of donations to the centre, adding that “people are donating all right but it is not enough”.

He also stated that some of the reasons why some of the patients are on waiting list are that most of them are babies who are not old enough to be operated upon and others are not ready and would have to be prepared for the surgery over a period of time.

He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to donate at least ?500 every day to help provide free surgery for every citizens when it becomes necessary.

He said the centre has been supporting needy patients with at least 50 per cent of its funds and sometimes goes beyond its reach to even provide the full cost for some patients who cannot afford the surgery.

The acting president of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Kwaku Andoh Awotwi, who presented a total of ?65 million to eight institutions, said the quarterly presentation has been on going since 1992 and it forms part of the corporate social responsibility of the mining industry.

The institutions are the Korle-Bu Endowment Fund, the Ghana Heart Foundation, the Ghana Police Endowment Fund, Ghana Immigration Service, the Soil Science Society of Ghana , Ghana Science Association , the Geological Survey Department and the Nandom- Naa.

The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Endowment Fund had ?20 million, followed by the Ghana Heart Foundation with ?15 million and the Soil Science Society ?10 million.

The Ghana Police Service had ?5 million, the Geological Survey Department ? 5 million , the Ghana Immigration Service ? 4 million, Ghana Science Association ? 3 million and the Nandom-Naa also had ?3 million for the promotion of Ghanaian culture.

He said the presentation to the foundation is the chamber’s continuous effort to make it one of the best in Africa and has since 1999, been donating ?10 million every year.

Mr Awotwi, who was accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer of the chamber, Mrs Joyce Wereko-Brobbey, said between 2001 and 2002 , mining companies have, in addition to statutory payments and royalties, provided over ?100 billion towards the development of communities within their catchment areas.

He said property rates alone paid to one district assembly in the same period amounted to over ?1 billion.