Pretoria - While government has refuted claims that it will cost R362 million to construct a First Aid Centre at the Bryntirion Estate, Minister of Public Works Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde said she will assess the value and scope of the project.
This comes after claims in the media that President Jacob Zuma was building a hospital at the estate at the cost of R362 million.
"The First Aid Centre - not a hospital - under consideration is a project of the Department of Public Works, procured from the Public Works infrastructure budget and not from the budget allocated to the Presidency or the Department of Health as reported in certain quarters," said the Ministry of Public Works in a statement.
The Bryntirion Estate incorporates the residence of the President, presidential guest house, and homes of other cabinet ministers.
It said while the minister was not opposed to the establishment of a First Aid Centre at the Bryntirion Estate, she was engaging with officials in the department to assess the value and the scope of the project in the light of the priorities of the current administration.
"This follows a period of a lull from January 2006, when the Department of Defence first made the request for the construction of a Dignitary Care Facility at 1 Military Hospital. In view of the refurbishments at 1 Military Hospital, there is a need to assess the current requirement in totality," said the ministry. - BuaNews
