MANSEHRA, Nov 12: The people of Oghi tehsil have been deprived of adequate health services since destruction of the area’s main civil hospital in October 2005 earthquake.

Qazi Khalid, a local leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, said that neither the provincial government nor the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority could include the construction of the civil hospital in their reconstruction plans. He said that the hospital was being run in tents without providing proper health services.

He said that this hospital was built in the area in British era. He said that the tented hospital was without indoor patient service and patients were being referred to hospitals in other parts of Hazara. He said that in some cases serious patients being shifted to other parts of Hazara died on way to hospitals.

Mr Khalid said that the Erra was responsible for keeping people of Oghi deprived of health facilities for the last eight years as it could not start work on the project.

He demanded of the provincial government led by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to start reconstruction of the hospital to provide proper health services to people. When contacted, district health officer, Mansehra, Dr Saifullah Khan said that the Erra had taken up the hospital project with NGOs, but none of them offered their services for this. He said that construction of the civil hospital was on top of the list of health units to be rebuilt and he was optimistic that its reconstruction would be started soon. —Correspondent