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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Some of the mechanical and electrical works at the Entebbe National isolation centre do not meet the specifications, the health ministry has revealed.
This came to the fore during a pre-handover inspection of the site conducted by a team of engineers and architects from the health ministry led by Eng. George Otim, the commissioner of health infrastructure, Dennis Kiberu, an architect and engineer Paul Kalanzi, a mechanical engineer.
Patrick Rubongoya, the project manager and Frank Lutalo, one of the engineers from BMK Uganda Ltd led a team on a guided tour of the facility. The team wanted to ascertain whether the contractor (BMK Uganda Ltd) has completed the works in accordance with the contract specifications. The team identified mechanical and electrical engineering faults as well as carpentry and joinery defects and directed the contractor to fix them within ten days.
The team also tasked the contractor to replace lights, taps, toilet pans and hand washing basins that do not meet the specifications in the bill of quantities. The team inquired from Rubongoya whether he approved the items before and after installation on site. In his response, Rubongoya said that he approved the samples before installation but rejects them after the works because different items were installed.
Kalanzi noted that the contractor must fix sockets that indicate when lights are off or on and replace the fluorescent tubes with LED lights to save energy and maintenance costs. Rubongoya also noted that he has severally asked the contractor to make changes in vain.
“Whenever I tell them to change this or that. These people think that I am harassing them. However, you have also come today and noted the same things. Maybe they will now do what we want,” he said.
Kiberu also noted that the worktops in the kitchen and pantries, particularly in the remodelled former TB ward (Block D) should be reworked to provide space for cookers. He directed that the long neck taps be replaced because they are too high from the level of the handwashing basins and will result in spills. “People will wet their clothes while medics will wet their scrubs while washing hands,” Kiberu noted.
MOH contracted BMK Uganda Ltd to refurbish the isolation center and complete the works by April this year. However, due to delays in approving plans for remodelling the Tuberculosis ward, the completion date was pushed to May. The contractor was expected to hand over the site on June 11.
However, by June 11, the contractor had not yet completed plumbing and electrical works in some of the buildings and former TB ward. As a result, the ministry gave the company a week to complete the works and hand over the site.
However, during the pre-handover inspection on Thursday, MOH gave the contractor more time to complete the remaining work. Eng. Otim says the contractor should be able to complete whatever is left and make the necessary changes in less than ten days.
He noted that the isolation centre should be in use next month since Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital is relying on it for additional space for COVID-19 patients. Entebbe Hospital is currently grappling with space constraints for COVID-19 patients.
MOH has started equipping the isolation centre with beds in the wards, suspect’s block near the laboratory and Intensive Care unit. The ministry has also fixed freezers in the mortuary.
Project Timelines
The renovation works, funded by the World Bank at the tune of Shillings 3billion commenced in October 2019. The work however stalled initially for two months during the total lockdown following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and only resumed in June.
However, from September, the works stalled again after the ministry cancelled the contract of Synergy Enterprises Ltd for alleged incompetence and lack of capacity to finance works. The work resumed in January 2021 after the World Bank and the Solicitor General approved the award of the contract to BMK Uganda Ltd for completion of the project.
The isolation centre was constructed in 2009 for infectious disease control such as SARS and Ebola. The World Bank and MOH decided to renovate the centre to create more space for intensive care, separate rooms for suspects and patients, laboratories and separate entry and exit points for the public and health workers.
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