Marshall Islands officials have given a 90-day deadline to two companies to produce a design for a new Majuro hospital, after five years and one million US dollars in costs.
They say despite investing more than one million dollars in United States-provided Compact funding, the design work is not yet 60 percent complete.
The estimated price tag for the facility is 50 million dollars - a figure about double what US officials said was affordable and maintainable.
Marshalls officials have expressed disappointment with the contractors EMPSCO, a Philippines and Guam-based engineering firm.
The Marshall Islands has now hired Leo Daly of Hawaii as a third-party reviewer.
But local officials say these two companies don't get along, are questioning each other's work, and will no longer meet together.
