May 21, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1429

KARACHI, May 20: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Karachi chapter, has expressed its reservations over the resumption of the project of a 26-storeyed ‘Health Tower’ at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JMPC).

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the honorary general secretary of the PMA, Dr Samrina Hashmi, said that there was no need for the construction of such a high-rise, as the city did not have enough electricity to run escalators or fire fighting equipment that could reach the 26th floor of a building.

She asked the federal government as to why a huge amount of money was being wasted on such ‘questionable’ projects. Instead, she added, the federal government should take measures for the improvement of the already existing health facilities in the province.

The PMA office-bearer questioned as to why some 2,400 basic health units in Sindh had either been shut down or lying dormant and funds were not diverted to make them functional. She deplored that only 15 per cent of the health budget was being utilised on basic health units, which served 90 per cent of the population.—PPI