NAROWAL: The building of the Zafarwal Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital could not be completed due to non-availability of funds in the last three years.

Zafarwal was upgraded to the tehsil level in 2007. Before that, the town had a 20-bed rural health centre to cater to the needs of people from more than 200 villages and Zafarwal city.

The Punjab government allocated 84 kanals at Chavinda on Sialkot Road in 2015 to build the THQ Hospital.

In June 2017, PML-N MPA Chaudhry Owais Qasim Khan laid the foundation stone for the construction of the hospital and initially Rs190.843 million were allocated while the completion deadline was Dec 31, 2019.

After the 2018 elections, the construction was stopped due to non-availability of funds. On May 3, 2019, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar visited Zafarwal and announced completion of the building by Dec 31, 2020. The cost of the project also increased by Rs250 million.

A few months ago, the chief minister came to Zafarwal to offer condolences on the death of the brother of Pir Syed Saeed Al Hassan, the provincial minister for endowments and religious affairs. He sought a report from the Gujranwala commissioner about the under-construction hospital.

Despite this, the hospital is still under construction. With the passage of time, windowpanes and doors have been vandalised.

Locals Nasir Mahmood and Mohammad Asif said the government had failed to provide basic services like health to the people.

Muhammad Arshad said the chief minister visited Zafarwal twice and the citizens demanded completion of the project.

District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Khalid Javed said a tender was also issued to procure furniture for the hospital. He alleged the contractor was delaying the completion of the project without any reason.

He said as soon as the contractor completes the construction of the hospital building, it would be made functional.

Citizens have demanded immediate action from Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on a delay in the construction of the hospital building.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2021