May 26, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1429

MULTAN, May 25: The ghost of PC-1 has been hindering the project of Children’s Complex in Multan for the last many years. The negligent delay has increased the cost of the project from Rs975 million to Rs1.75 billion, sources reveal to Dawn.

The story of the red-tapped project dates back to 1998, when then chief minister Shahbaz Sharif announced a 300-bed Children’s Complex for Multan.

Through a notification on Sept 9, 1998, the Punjab government ordered that the Civil Hospital in Multan be converted into children’s complex and allocated Rs16 million to buy equipment for the purpose. The facility was made functional with only 60 beds the same year.

Later, it turned out that the Civil Hospital building was not spacious enough to accommodate 300 beds. After the Sharif government was ousted on Oct 12, 1999, the successive government planned the complex extension in phases. In the first phase, the complex would be upgraded from 60 beds to 150 beds and a new building to house another 150 beds would be built in the second phase.

The complex remained attached with the Nishtar Medical College and Hospital till March, 2004, and later the government awarded an independent status to it.

In the new arrangement, a project director would be the administrative head of the hospital, and a medical superintendent would be posted against the sanctioned post which is still lying vacant.

The Punjab government allocated funds for the construction of the 150-bed building in its fiscal budgets of 2006-07 and 2007-08, which could not be utilised due to the non-approval of the PC-1.

The complex administration sent the PC-1 to the Planning and Development Department in 2006 that was rejected due to some loopholes in it. It asked the administration to approach then Planning Department chairman Salman Ghani for approval. When the project was presented to Mr Ghani, he proposed the complex provide a developing patients management system, an inventory control system, a financial control system, a research cell, community outreach services, a consultancy service system and a heat ventilation air-conditioning system. Sources say a few proposals seemed ideal but not realistic because of infrastructure and human source constraints.

The administration attempted the second PC-1 after fulfilling the requirements of the Planning and Development Department, but the department rejected it on July 9, 2007, saying the plan was not prepared on the prescribed form besides pointing out some other technical loopholes.

Work could not begin even after the management addressed all flaws and the department rejected the third PC-1 on March 24, 2008. This time the flaws the plan contained were: the lack of an economic analysis, environment impact assessment and a cash flow chart.

On April 3, 2008, the complex administration’s another bid to get the PC-1 failed as the Federal Planning Commission had changed the PC-1 format while the complex administration was following the old route.

The latest PC-1 the complex administration posted to the Planning Department envisages the cost of the complex Rs1.75 billion, which in the first PC-1 presentation stood at Rs975 million.

During this bureaucratic battle, the health secretary attached the complex with the Nishtar Medical College and Hospital in 2007 after abolishing its independent status.

Project Director Dr Khalid Abbas Bokhari said that a fresh PC-1 had been sent to the Planning and Development department for the approval.

Despite many attempts, Planning and Development Department Chairman Sami Saeed was not available for comments.