Progress of work on the ongoing Wa Regional Hospital is moving at a snail pace, due to the non-availability of building materials such as wooden boards and cement.

About 600 workers had been laid off and a skeleton number of 12 labourers are at site carrying out minor works on the building, which is expected to be completed by December this year.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the site on Wednesday to see the progress of work saw only 12 labourers at the site but the contractor was not on site. Tieso Ghana Limited is the construction firm undertaking the project.

Some of the workers, who spoke to the GNA, said 600 workers had been laid off and attributed their dismissal to lack of finances to continue with work on the project.

“The contractor told us there is no money and materials to continue with the work and so 600 of us had been sacked. We are waiting for the money for the materials to start serious work on the project”, the workers told the GNA.

Work on the three storey administration and pharmacy blocks is at the lintel stages. The other departments and units are still at the floor levels.

Some people in Wa town expressed interest in the project and said they want to see the quick completion of the project to reduce the burden of travelling to Tamale, Kumasi and Accra for medical attention.

Others have also expressed doubts about whether the project would be completed as scheduled and appealed to the contractor to speed up work on the project for the timely completion of the project.

According to them, the last time President John Dramani Mahama visited the Upper West Region and inspected work at the hospital, he was assured that the project would be completed by December this year.