After nearly ten years of delay, the project for the new Kairouan university hospital is finally becoming a reality. The contract to hand over the site to the Tunisian-Saudi group responsible for its construction was officially signed Thursday at the headquarters of the governorate, marking the effective start of work on the future Salman Ben Abdelaziz university hospital.
Representatives of the two companies in charge of the project, Khaled Koussabi and Hedi Bouzeganda, told TAP that the duration of the work was set at 36 months from the signing of the contract. The hospital complex, which will extend over 14 hectares, will be built in an architectural style inspired by the Islamic identity of Kairouan, with a modernized design meeting current hospital standards.
According to the regional health director, Moez Hajji, the total value of the project is around 500 million dinars. A substantial part of the funding comes from a Saudi donation, via the Saudi Fund for Development, amounting to $85 million. The rest will be covered by the Tunisian state budget, notably for additional works, connections and taxes.
The future facility will include a wide range of specialized services, including an oncology center, a blood bank, a burn unit, a nuclear medicine department, a dialysis unit, a maternity ward, a medical imaging department, intensive care units for adults and newborns, as well as departments of cardiology, occupational medicine, infertility treatment and medically assisted reproduction.
Transition from dream to reality
For the first delegate from Kairouan, Sami Laïdi, this launch marks “the transition from dream to reality”. The authorities hope to inaugurate the new hospital towards the end of 2028, once the works and equipment are completed.
In the region, the announcement caused widespread relief. Several residents interviewed by TAP expressed their satisfaction at seeing this project, awaited for years, finally get underway. They believe that it will bring care closer to residents of the center of the country, reduce pressure on other hospitals and above all put an end to the long ordeal of patients forced to travel to other regions to access medical specialties that do not exist in Kairouan.
The site is also expected to generate hundreds of jobs during construction and equipment, and will subsequently provide new opportunities for healthcare professionals.
It should be recalled that the day before, Wednesday, the Ministry of Health had signed the construction and equipment contract for the same hospital in the presence of the Minister of Health, Mostafa Ferjani, the Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia, Abdoulaziz Ben Ali Essagr, and the governor of Kairouan, Dhaker Barqaoui.
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