02 March 2005	Wednesday	20 Muharram 1426

PESHAWAR, March 1: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani has directed the finance department to sanction posts of doctors wherever required in provincial hospitals so that better health care facilities could be provided to the people.

Presiding over a meeting here on Monday, which reviewed progress of development projects in the health sector, Mr Durrani asked the finance department to sanction posts of specialists for hospitals in D.I. Khan and Lakki Marwat districts, says a handout.

The chief minister said that people in the province could not be provided proper medical care if necessary posts of doctors were not sanctioned. "Construction of buildings alone would not work and the money spent on them would go down the drain if the required number of doctors were not posted in hospitals," the handout quoted the chief minister as having said.

Mr Durrani asked officials concerned to appoint the required number of doctors at the earliest. In this respect, he asked the finance department to hold a meeting and sanction the number of posts.

He also asked the authorities to launch work on the Lakki Marwat hospital project and directed the finance department to sanction posts required for the hospital. The meeting also discussed a proposal concerning a national plan of action for cancer treatment and decided that the province should contact the federal government to seek its share.

The chief minister presided over two more meetings which reviewed the progress on schemes pertaining to the education and irrigation sectors. Additional Chief Secretary Laiq Shah, secretaries of works and services and labour departments, representatives of finance and other departments attended the meetings.

The chief minister expressed dissatisfaction over schemes pertaining to the Workers Welfare Board. He took exception that recommendations put forth during the last meeting had not been implemented and there was no change in the status of several schemes.

He referred to three cancer hospitals being constructed at D.I. Khan, Swat and Bannu, and said the existing mechanism of the Workers Welfare Board to implement projects was complicated and should be made easier. A school project had been approved but no progress had been made in this respect, he stated.

"It seems that the project has been shelved," the chief minister remarked. Mr Durrani said the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission had expressed its full support in the construction of cancer hospitals.

He said a meeting comprising representatives of the federal government, provincial government, and the PAEC should be held at the earliest to finalize arrangements for the construction of cancer hospitals.

Regarding the education sector, the chief minister approved funding for a public school in D.I. Khan. The school would be situated in the Commissioner House and buildings of the Irrigation Department located there could be used for the purpose.

The school would give admissions in nursery till class-V. The provincial government would provide funds for the purchase of furniture etc. The post of the principal should be advertised.

The chief minister directed that people having a strong academic background and experience should be hired as principal and teachers so that they could impart quality education. Classes would begin in the next academic year, he added.

The chief minister also asked the authorities to settle the case of land acquisition for Islamia College at Charsadda. The provincial government would provide money for the acquisition of land, he said and added that a meeting be convened for the purpose.

Mr Durrani further directed the authorities to accelerate efforts for the establishment of a university in Bannu. Land should be acquired for the purpose and necessary measures be taken, he said and added that his government wanted to create higher education facilities in all major cities of the province. Quality education is our ultimate aim, he added.

Regarding upgradation of schools, the chief minister said that posts in various educational institutions should be sanctioned so that educational facilities could be expanded.

He said provision of funds would not be a problem because the government wanted promotion of education that would act as a base for the socio economic development of the people and the province.

NEC: The National Economic Council has approved the Kurram-Tangi dam project, which will irrigate 362,500 acres in the southern districts of the NWFP, says APP.

"The designing, feasibility and engineering studies of the project have been finalized and the construction will be started shortly," Lakki Marwat District Nazim Hamayun Saifullah Khan told APP here on Monday.

He said the government allocated Rs300 million for the designing and feasibility study for the dam in 2002-03. "The project will generate 72 megawatts of electricity and irrigate 362,500 acres," he said.