Construction of the new Morphou hospital will be completed in 2025, the north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said on Friday night.

He was speaking after the signing of a new protocol for the building’s construction alongside ‘health minister’ Hakan Dincyurek and Kyrenia-based construction company Asan Nak-Kam Dozercilik director Mahmut Dagasti which, he said, will allow his ‘government’ to “fulfil a promise made to the public”.

“Previous governments did not take any initiatives to complete this hospital, where construction has been idle since 2015. We made a promise to the people. We will complete this hospital in 2025,” he said.

He added that now Asan Nak-Kam Dozercilik has won the tender to complete the hospital, work would be carried out “quickly”.

He also said a new hospital in Kyrenia, as well as health centres in Kythrea, in Lapithos, and in Varosha would all be put into service next year.

Ustel had a year ago promised that construction would be completed in 2024, with the unfinished shell of the building having attracted criticism from opposition figures.

CTP ‘MP’ and former ‘health minister’ Filiz Besim said in July that the existing Morphou Health Centre could not sufficiently cope with demand in the town and its surrounding villages, adding “health has been completely sacrificed in Morphou.”

In June this year, he mentioned the hospital in his speech in Ankara announcing the signing of the year’s financial protocol alongside Turkey’s Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz.