ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Usman Ibrahim on Monday asked the Economic Affairs Division to make arrangements for the transfer of an incinerator from France.

The French government had agreed to donate an incinerator for hospitals in Islamabad three months ago, but so far the facility has not arrived in the country.

The matter came up at a meeting of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) presided over by the minister who reviewed schemes to be executed by his ministry.

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Vice-Chancellor Dr Javed Akram, one of the participants of the meeting, told Dawn that the French government had agreed to donate the incinerator.

He said a few months ago, the chairperson of Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, Kalsoom Parveen, took notice of the absence of a quality incinerator for hospitals in the federal capital.

“She managed to get Rs6.2 million released for the purchase of the incinerator, but the amount was not enough as a quality incinerator costs more than Rs500 million. However we floated a tender to get the waste disposal facility for Rs7.3 million,” Dr Akram said.

Economic Affairs Division has been asked to get in touch with the French government

“An incinerator should not only dispose of hospital waste but control smoke that rises from the burning waste. With Rs6.2 million, we would have been able to purchase just the furnace. Therefore efforts were made to seek donation for a quality incinerator,” he said.

In the meantime, the French government offered that instead of giving cash, it would donate an incinerator worth over Rs700 million, the vice-chancellor said.

“Though it was a great offer, a donation is accepted at the government level, which was why the CADD minister approached the Economic Affairs Division on Monday,” he said.

Dr Javed Akram said if the incinerator was installed at Pims, all government hospitals would get free facility to dispose of medical waste.

“Moreover, private hospitals can also use the incinerator by giving a nominal fee. It will not only decrease chances of spread of hepatitis, HIV and other diseases, but also discourage reuse of injections, drips and other medical instruments,” he added.

According to an official statement issued by CADD, the minister said once the incinerator arrived from France it would cater to the needs of Islamabad.

The minister also reviewed progress of the ongoing projects and went through the feasibility reports of new and upcoming projects for Pims, Polyclinic, Population Welfare and other departments.

He also took notice of financial and human resource issues of these institutions.

The minister said new hiring should be made under a clear recruitment policy, adding that construction of two hostels – one for women doctors and the other for nurses – should begin as early as possible, the press release said.

Additional Secretary CADD Qaiser Majeed, while talking to Dawn, said there were 25 approved and seven ongoing schemes of CADD under PSDP.

“Since the government is not providing us the necessary finances, we are trying to generate funds on our own,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 16th , 2014