KARACHI, Sept 12: Thousands of employees of the financially-starved Karachi Water and Sewage Board (KWSB) are being deprived of medical facilities since all the drug stores on the utility’s panel have not been paid outstanding dues for the past eight months and refuse to supply any further medicines, Dawn has learnt. Reportedly, a number of hospitals on the KWSB panel have also warned the utility that unless bills are cleared immediately, they will have no choice but to suspend the provision of treatment to KWSB employees.

Sources say that the bills have not been cleared because medical expenses have been cut by 20 per cent in the organisation’s current fiscal year budget. They explain that only Rs35 million have been earmarked for the medical expenses for some 8,000 serving and 2,000 retired employees, as compared to Rs50 million allocated in last year’s budget.

However, other inquiries indicate that the payments are being withheld deliberately in connection with negotiations with a little-known insurance firm that may be awarded a contract for providing medical facilities to KWSB employees. Sources told Dawn that if the outstanding figures are cleared, the full sum of money reserved for medical expenses during the current financial year would be consumed and the KWSB will be rendered unable to pay the insurance firm’s premium.

According to KWSB employees contacted by Dawn, more than 25 of the utility’s employees suffer from Hepatitis-B and -C but cannot regularly take the prescribed medication since pharmacies have cut off supplies. Similarly, some 2,000 retired employees, including those suffering chronic ailments, are being denied prescribed medication.