KARACHI, July 2: Patients and staff members of Lyari General Hospital (LGH) have been facing a lot of problems owing to poor planning and mismanagement of development works initiated a couple of months back by a government agency.

A survey of the hospital shows that all the washrooms in OPD section, medical ward and some other wards were demolished without taking into consideration sufferings of patients and staff.

As many as 1,500 patients visit the OPD section every day and obviously have to use washrooms. The demolition of washrooms has created a serious situation both for the patients and the hospital staff. The ultimate rush at remaining washrooms has also led to a chaotic situation.

Though the staff and visitors welcomed the development and renovation work, they expressed resentment over lack of planning and some sort of strategy to undertake such works without causing such a serious problems to general public.

Some of the staff members pointed out that in certain wards, men and women had to use same washrooms only due to mismanagement and non-availability of adequate facilities. Negligence appeared to be another factor contributing to a complete mess, they added.

Because of the neglect on the part of relevant authorities, no renovation work has been carried out ever since the hospital started functioning. At present, most of the wards are even without proper lighting arrangement.

The problem of chronic water shortage still persists and sewerage system has almost collapsed. Seepage is eating into the concrete walls. Keeping in view the hospital's condition, the provincial government has allocated Rs3 million for the repair and renovation work, but progress of the work is slow.

Medical Superintendent Ali Nawaz Khoso has also expressed his dissatisfaction over the situation pace and quality of work when his attention was drawn to the prevailing situation. He, however, stated that he had brought the matter to the notice of high-ups for necessary action.

He claimed that the contractors involved in the projects were using substandard material and maintaining poor quality. He suggested that there should be a committee to monitor the contractors and keep a check on the quality, issue a certificate and control payments.