Parliament’s Health Committee is expected to summon the Minister of Health, Kweku Agyeman-Manu, to answer questions on measures taken by the Ministry to halt private developers from encroaching on the lands of the Pantang Hospital.

This follows a sit-down strike by the staff of the hospital to fight encroachment by private developers.

The action, which began on Monday 10 July, 2017, follows several failed attempts by management and staff of the facility to remove the encroachers whose activities are said to be compromising the security of both the staff and patients.

Speaking to Class News, a former Health Minister and a Ranking Member of the Health Committee, Joseph Yieleh Chireh, described the situation as sad while assuring the hospital and its staff of the committee’s commitment to help solve the issue.

“It is very sad for us to wait until the staff of an essential service like the Mental Health Service to be on strike before we act. I think we will commend their patriotism in ensuring that land belonging to the hospital is returned to them. We will also appeal to them at this stage not to put the lives of patients in jeopardy. We of the committee will consult [today] and possibly invite the Minister for Health to find out details of what he wants to do to restore normalcy in Pantang Hospital,” he said.