HYDERABAD, March 1: The College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan should be allotted a piece of land in the premises of the Civil Hospital of Hyderabad free of cost for establishment of its regional centre.

This demand was made by the college regional director and dean of the faculty of surgery and allied sciences, Prof Ghulam Ali Memon, while talking to this correspondent in response to opposition by some quarters to the establishment of the CPSP centre in the CHH premises.

He said the CPSP had established such centres in Faisalabad, Peshawar, Multan and Bahawalpur on government land that was allotted to it free of cost. He said the college had sanctioned Rs10 million for the regional centre out of which Rs800,000 had been contributed by 30 fellows of the CPSP of Hyderabad.

Prof Memon said the CPSP centre would be a resource centre for students of Hyderabad as it would house a library, lecture halls, conference hall, Internet cafe, workshop room and an examination hall.

He further said CPSP's centres were working in Nepal and Saudi Arabia as their degrees had been recognized there. He said enough space was available in front of the coronary care unit of the civil hospital where the CPSP office could be established as the land had been lying without use by the hospital management for the last 10 years.

The college official pointed out that Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad had decided the matter at the Jan 30 meeting with the CPSP by calling for removal of bottlenecks in the establishment of the centre.

When he was told that being the chief executive of the province, Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar had disallowed the setting up of the college office in the CHH premises, he said it was up to the governor and the chief minister to resolve the matter.

When asked why the matter was not settled at a meting chaired by the Sindh chief secretary when it was decided that space in the Muslim Hostel would be obtained for a kidney centre and the CPSP building, he said the hostel was in possession of the Rangers and it was the property of the Noor Mohammad High School Trust.

He maintained that the health department should first take over the possession of the hostel and then hand it over to the CPSP. He said the regional centre in Jamshoro would not be feasible as he claimed no one, including students, would go there after evening hours.

Prof Memon said he had talked to the adviser to the chief minister on health affairs, Noman Saigal, in this regard during his last visit who had assured him that he would take up the matter with the governor.

He clarified that the CPSP had demanded 1,472 square yards of land and not 2,000 yards as had been claimed by the hospital management. He admitted that the civil hospital catered to the needs of lakhs of people of interior Sindh but he did not believe that the CPSP centre would cause any trouble to the hospital in future expansion as planned.

He also referred to a meeting of fellows of the CPSP in Hyderabad the other day which said the regional centre should be constructed in the CHH premises.