March 18, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1429

PESHAWAR, March 17: Delay in the transfer of land from the Sarhad Development Authority to the NWFP health department may deprive the province of $20 million grant-in-aid pledged by the Government of Japan, sources said.

“The former government had allocated 20 kanals in Hayatabad Township for the establishment of children hospital, but despite the passage of more than one year, the land is yet to be transferred to the health department,” they added. In this connection, a summary had been approved by the former provincial chief minister.

Sources said that the Japanese government has approved a $20 million grant for the establishment of the Khyber Institute of Child Health and Children’s Hospital last year. The former chief minister Akram Khan Durrani had already allocated a building vacated by a French NGO to the Khyber Institute of Child Health (KICH). He had also sanctioned Rs150 million for renovation and refurbishment of the building.

The former chief minister held a meeting with the Japanese ambassador to Pakistan and pledged to allocate 20 kanals in the Hayatabad Township adjacent to the KICH for the construction of the children hospital. The land was owned by the SDA and the chief minister pledged to buy it.

Despite pledges, the land is yet to be acquired and the representatives of the government of Japan, seem extremely enthusiastic about the project, may visit the project site any time in April or May.

Sources said that the government might lose the huge grant of $20 million if the piece of land was not acquired immediately. They said that last year the Japanese government had received proposals for 16 projects from Pakistan for grant-in-aid and only three were approved with the children hospital at the top.

Sources said that a team of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had visited the project site several times. “But, we need to take possession of the plot from the SDA to be able to get the grant,” said officials at the health secretariat.

The Japanese government had officially informed Pakistan to complete its part of the project, they said. According to them, the Japanese government would hire its own consultant and contractor for designing and construction of the hospital for which money would be allocated in line with the pace of work.

Sources said that the Japanese government wanted the plot to be transferred to the health department as soon as possible. The province has only 1,000 beds for a population of 11 million children, which means that there is only one bed for 10,000 children.