HARIPUR: Residents of Kakotri village and nearby localities here on Sunday complained about lack of proper health services at the local basic health unit (BHU) due to which they had to travel to Haripur city or Abbottabad for paid services.

Talking to mediapersons here, Kakotri village council chairman Abdul Hameed Awan said the BHU’s building was constructed in British style in early 50s for providing health facilities to the residents of over 50 small and large remote localities of Haripur and nearby Abbottabad.

He said the building was now in bad shape and demanded its immediate reconstruction.

The VC chairman said the facility was short of staff, as the posts of female medical technician, lady health workers and dai (trained birth attendant) had been lying vacant for several years.

He said only one male medical officer and a male technician were posted in the BHU who travelled daily from Haripur to Kakotri for two to three hours covering 28km distance.

The villagers have to travel to the city for treatment

Asghar Awan, a resident of the area, said that owing to lack of maintenance the building’s roof built of corrugated steel sheets had developed holes and the wooden ceiling leaked during rain, creating problems for both the staff and patients.

He said that in the absence of qualified female staff the residents had to travel to Haripur or Abbottabad both for emergency and routine treatment.

“The pregnant women suffer the most, as in case of birth-related complications they could not get timely treatment,” he said.

When contacted, district health officer Dr Munawar Khan Afridi confirmed that the six-room building was partially functional and its structure was in a dilapidated condition.

He said that a World Bank’s team had visited and approved the reconstruction and improvement of facilities in over 50 hospitals of the district and Kakotri BHU was among the list of those health facilities. He said the existing building would be demolished and the reconstruction work was expected to begin within next few months.

The DHO said he was going to declare the nearby Beer BHU as fixed centre with required staff and health facilities so the residents of remote localities could get emergency treatment before reaching Haripur.

KILLED: One construction worker was killed and two others were injured when wall of an under-constructionmosque collapsed in Gali village of Baitgali union council, police said here on Monday.

The rescue workers shifted the injured to the tehsil headquarters hospital, Ghazi, where one of them Abdul Raheem, 36, succumbed to his injuries, while Akhtar Javed and Waheed were admitted.

Published in Dawn, january 3th, 2023