Accra, Oct. 31, GNA - Parliament on Friday approved a 12-million dollar loan facility for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital in the Upper East region. The facility would help in the construction of a Public Health and Dental Service Block, a Blood Bank Unit, Accident and Emergency Unit and a Mortuary among others.

A Parliamentary Report said the project was aimed at supporting government's policy of rehabilitating and expanding health facilities in deprived regions of the country to facilitate the effective implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme. The House also approved a joint committee's report to support an agreement between government and two international companies to redevelop the old Accra Racecourse site adjacent to the Accra International Conference Centre into a five-star hotel and shopping mall among others.

The report said the agreement was to develop the site into a mixed user complex to include apartment buildings and to manage the conference centre.

"The Committee also observed that the construction of the hotel, office buildings and shopping mall is designed to turn the Accra International Conference Centre area into a complete convention centre of international standard," the report said. According to the report, this was part of the original plan of the Accra International Conference Centre but due to government's inability to find a partner willing to bear the cost of relocating the racecourse, the project could not be fulfilled until now. It said the development of the hotel complex, apartment suites, shopping mall and other projects, was to augment the present stock of hotel accommodation and attract more tourists into the country.