PESHAWAR: The United States Agency for International Development has agreed to provide Rs1.6 billion for completion of the first-ever trauma, burns and reconstructive surgery centre following the federal government’s unwillingness to provide the funds, it had pledged.

Sources said that federal government had pledged the amount for completion of the project but left it in the middle. The provincial government started construction of the specialised burns and reconstructive centre in Hayatabad Medical Complex in 2010 to cater to the needs of burn patients but after lapse of seven years it was yet to be completed.

Officials said that federal government had pledged to provide funds for construction of basement, ground, first and second floor of the building besides purchasing equipments.

The Workers Welfare Board was supposed to provide about Rs1 billion to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for completion of the 120-bed hospital but so far only Rs250 million had been released by the centre owing to which it could not be completed.

Sources said that initially it was planned to start the hospital by June 30, 2014 and later the completion date was fixed June 30, 2015 but owing to lack of funds, the provincial government was finding it hard to complete the project.

They said that in March 2012, Rs150 million was provided to the project from the president special health package but it still needed the amount promised by the federal government from Worker Welfare Board.

Project incomplete after lapse of seven years for want of funds

Officials said that since July 2014, the federal government had stopped provision of funds owing to which the construction process had come to complete halt. They said that three months ago provincial government approached USAID for completion of the project to help the sufferers of burn injuries and provide state-of-the-art facilities to the people requiring emergency care.

The USAID team visited the site of the project and expressed willingness to provide funds for the much-delayed project and complete it in less than one year. A PC-1 was prepared and approved by the government and it was hoped that work on the project would get underway soon.

Prof Mohammad Tahir, the project director, told Dawn that the project would ultimately see light of the day due to interest by the government and USAID.

“We desperately need the centre because only in Peshawar district we record 5,000 burn cases every year. This hospital will provide services to the people coming from the whole province as well as Afghanistan and other provinces,” he said.

Prof Tahir, who is also head of plastic surgery department at HMC, said that eight per cent of the civil work had already been completed and hopefully they would start the centre within one year.

He said that provincial government had agreed to run the hospital from its own resources.

“We will need 500 staff, including 150 doctors, nurses and paramedics and about Rs300 million grant every year to keep its operations going. The hospital will run operation theatre and outpatients departments six days a week,” he said.

Prof Tahir said that the hospital would act as umbrella for burns and plastic and reconstructive surgery throughout the province. He said that there would be separate beds for trauma, burns and reconstructive surgery and intensive care unit.

Sources said that USAID would be requested to complete the construction work on its own because it would face more delay under the government system. “The health department also wants it to purchase the desired equipment,” they added.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2017