Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
On June 23, 2022, the feasibility plan for the Pristina General Hospital was presented by the Municipality of Pristina.
Meanwhile, in a post on September 1 of that same year, Përparim Rama, the mayor of Prishtina, announced that he had visited the location dedicated to the construction of the Capital Hospital facility.
Rama indicated that construction of the facility is expected to begin in 2023.
What is the situation with the Capital Hospital?
Two years after this announcement by Mayor Rama, the construction of this facility has not begun, despite warnings that its construction will begin within 2024.
Analyze:
The presentation of the feasibility plan for the Pristina General Hospital was also attended by the then Minister of Health, Rifat Latifi (see here).
The article by the portal "albanianpost.com", to which hibrid.info referred, also mentions the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the start of the construction of the Pristina Hospital, as early as 2019, by the then Minister of Health, Uran Isamili, together with the Minister of Public Administration at the time, Mahir Yagcilar.
The project was expected to be completed in 2021, but this did not happen.
While Mayor Përparim Rama, who was elected to this position in 2021, said that the construction of the Pristina General Hospital was expected to begin in 2023 (see here).
Përparim Rama's post on September 1, 2022, on Facebook:
"The Capital Hospital is being built!"
Together with the Director of Health, Mr. Izet Sadiku, we visited the location dedicated to the construction of the facility.
All necessary measurements and analyses are being made to ensure the smooth running of the process.
"Work on the Capital Hospital is progressing according to plan and we expect construction to begin in 2023."
However, the construction of this facility did not begin in 2023. This is also evidenced in the report published on the fulfilled promises of the mayors of municipalities in Kosovo, by the Institute for Advanced Studies GAP, on June 30, 2023 (see here).
Hibrid.info has also found a publication by Mayor Rama, who on May 3, 2024, announced the tendering of the project and the start of construction of the Capital Hospital (see here).
Përparim Rama's post on May 3, 2024, on Facebook:
"The Capital Hospital is being built!"
Today we discussed the final details of the Capital Hospital project.
A long-awaited project that will make access to secondary health services easier for the citizens of Pristina.
Cardiology, pediatrics, gynecology and many other departments with conditions and standards of the European level.
"Very soon the project will be tendered and construction will begin."
Based on the findings of hibrid.info, as of the date of processing this commitment (September 3, 2024), the construction of the Capital Hospital has not yet begun (see here and here).
Conclusion:
The Pristina Hospital was promised during the mandate of the Mayor of Pristina, Përparim Rama. It was said that it would be built in a new building or that the UCCK space would be used.
The start of its construction was announced several times during Rama's mandate, with specific deadlines being mentioned, but it has not yet begun.
Based on the methodology of working on fulfilling or keeping promises, hibrid.info evaluates the failure to build this health institution as a "promise not kept."
Reasoning:
Fulfillment or keeping of promises is mainly related to pre-election promises, which are monitored at the central and local levels during the four-year mandate. This research is mainly conducted during the pre-election campaign, where the main political figures are monitored, in order to have a fact-check of what they say. Based on the promises made earlier, through the election program, Hibrid.info checks the statements of these politicians, to see if they have managed to keep those promises after the mandate. Hibrid.info plans to publish such reports on an annual basis.
The assessment in this category is made as – keeping the promise (if it is kept), partial keeping of the promise and promise not kept (if it is not kept).