CHAKWAL: In 2010, the foundation stone for a Rural Health Centre (RHC) was laid in Basharat Village in Jhangar Valley, Choa Saidan Shah. The people, living in the two dozen villages of Jhangar Valley, were relieved thinking that now they would have access to basic health facilities. However, their dreams are yet to be fulfilled as the near complete RHC building remains vacant because of lack of funding.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif issued a special directive in 2009 to establish the RHC Basharat upon the request of Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Malik Tanveer Aslam Awan.

The project was to be completed by February 2012, at a cost of Rs27.389 million. However, those who initiated the project against procedural rules were unsure about the appropriate executing department.

Initially, the project was given to the Provincial Building Department but later, on the request of the then district coordination officer of Chakwal, the project was transferred to the District Building Department.

In the Annual Development Programme (ADP) of 2010, the Punjab government released Rs10 million for the project. The contract was given to a contractor named Pervez Butt.

However, according to an official, in 2011 the District Health Department which was executing the project did not include it in its ADP and the project did not receive funding.

Rural health centre project, started in 2010, remains incomplete

The district administration released Rs4 million for the project in 2011 but since then, not a single penny has been released for the project.

According to sources, a revised estimate has been prepared for the project according to which, another Rs9.252 million is now needed to complete the project. Due to apathy of the officials concerned, a project which could have been completed at a cost of Rs27.389 million would now be completed at a cost of Rs36.137 million.

“The main building is almost complete but doors need to be installed. The residences for doctors and other staff members, washrooms and the boundary wall need to be completed. There is also no electricity connection,” an official said. On the other hand, the original contractor, Pervez Butt, who deposited a security free of Rs600,000 to acquire the contract has filed a petition before the Lahore High Court over the delay of the project.

“I suffered heavy losses as the government did not release funds in time. I paid Rs8,000 to a watchman for four years but now I have abandoned the site and removed the watchman as I can no longer bear losses,” Mr Butt told Dawn.

He added that he has suffered a loss of over Rs1 million.

A resident of the area, Raja Saqib, said: “Since there is no public hospital in our area, we have to go to Choa Saidan Shah or Chakwal, in case of an emergency.”

Another resident of the area, Mohammad Zeeshan, said that when the project was launched in 2010, the residents were pleased to see that their MPA had helped resolve one of their biggest problems.

“We had to face continued disappointment,” he said.

When contacted, District Officer Building Jamil Arshad said the work would be resumed soon. He confirmed that a summary had been sent to the Rawalpindi District Commission asking for Rs9.252 million for the execution of the project.

Talking to Dawn, the provincial housing and urban development minister, Malik Tanveer Aslam Awan, said that he was trying his best to get the project included in the ADP for 2015-2016.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2015

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