HARIPUR, Aug 28: The Disrict Headquarters Hospital in Haripur, a much-delayed project of the provincial health department, could not be made operational in the last fiscal year, owing to scarcity of resources and slow construction work, Dawn has learnt here.

As per revised schedule, the hospital was to be made functional in November last with certain changes in the original plan, but due to shortage of funds the project’s launch was delayed, with July being fixed as the next deadline. The result: a sum of Rs15 million earmarked for its equipment and furniture lapsed at the close of last fiscal year.

In the first phase, the OPD pathology, medical, children and casualty departments were to be completed by June, 1996. The second phase, comprising administration block, 200-bed wards, operation theatre, ICU, staff bungalows, nursing hostel, landscaping and other infrastructure, was to be completed by 1998. Facilities of MRI, and other constructions were envisaged to be completed in the phase III.

But due to change of government in November, 1996, this project of vital importance for the locals has kept being delayed for six years.

The population of the district has been increasing rapidly but the health facilities are shrinking.

When the second Nawaz Sharif government assumed power, it just focused on projects sanctioned by its ministers, paying least attention to the under-construction project of DHQ Hospital. The situation got no better with the arrival of the military regime, and the funds allocated after October 12, 1999, proved insufficient to get the hospital started.

Former provincial health minister, Dr Shaheen Sardar Ali, visited Haripur in October last during which she was apprised of the problems faced by the people in the absence of well-equipped health facility. She promised to arrange required cash for the completion of phase 1 — Rs10 million, to be exact — within 15 days. But she could get only Rs3.5 million sanctioned, which were disbursed in June, 2002, causing a further delay.

An official source said the provincial health department has finalized the appointment of 32 medical officers, paramedics and related staff totalling 132. The government has so far spent Rs56 million on the project while it needs a further Rs200 million for completion.

When an official from the local C&W was contacted, he said that they needed Rs6.5 million for completion of phase 1, which would make the hospital operational. If the required sum was provided, they could do it in two months, he added.