SWABI, Dec 14: The completion of the 200-bed Swabi Hospital Complex (SHC), already delayed by seven years, will be completed in the next two to three months at a cost of Rs1.16 billion.

Sources in the health and works and services departments said that work on the hospital project had stopped five times for different reasons since the construction started in 1996. The hospital was scheduled to be completed in two years by Dec 1998.

Every time the construction was suspended, authorities claimed that it was because of shortage of funds. But, sources said, the real reason for delays was rivalry among politicians.

The local district headquarters hospital was not able to cope with the area’s healthcare demands in the absence of proper facilities. This forced patients to be referred to either Peshawar or Mardan for treatment.

The hospital’s construction had been stopped by the former chief minister Sardar Mahtab Khan and the project remained suspended till the removal of Nawaz Sharif government.

Former governor Syed Iftikhar Hussian Shah had announced an amount of Rs270 million for resuming work on the project in March 2000. However, later the governor had told the district government that half of the funds should be raised by the district government.

The estimated cost of the project was revised thrice, an official said. “If it had been completed according to the schedule, it would have cost much less than what it cost now in 2005”, he said.

Sources said that the construction of OPD, casualty block, pathology, X-ray, intensive care unit, two operation theatres, ENT ward, labour room, medical, surgical and some other wards needed final touches.

They said when the now defunct communication and works department wanted to hand over some completed portions of the project to the health department, officials concerned had refused, saying they would take possession of the building only after its completion.

Sources in the health department said that bungalows, nurses’ hostel and residential flats for the paramedical staff had not yet been constructed. They said the health department would not take over the hospital project until all buildings had been completed.

District Nazim Shahram Khan said he had already visited the hospital and ordered officials concerned to complete the project without any further delay.

He said there was no paucity of funds, hoping that the hospital would be completed soon. “I hope it would start functioning early next years”, he said.