PESHAWAR, Jan 19: NWFP Minister for Labour and Industries Malik Zafar Azam has said that the province’s first kidney centre would be functional soon and transplantation and other services would be offered to patients at nominal charges. “Of the 17 modules at the centre, five have been installed, four are in installation stage and tenders area under process for eight,” the minister told a news briefing at the centre in the premises of Hayatabad Medical Complex.

Mr Azam said the Workers’ Welfare Board was bearing expenses of the centre — Rs158 million for the building and Rs150 million for equipment.

The board would also bear the centre’s operational expenses for the first two years, he told a questioner.

Explaining the reasons for delay in the completion of the project, the minister said the government had repeatedly invited tenders through advertisement for the remaining eight modules but no party had shown interest in it.

He said the centre’s management would be handed over to the provincial government after two years.

In reply to a question, the minister said the centre would be of international standard and it had the potential to be upgraded from the current 50 beds to 100 beds. He said employees of the WWB would be offered diagnostic services free of charge at the centre.

WWB Deputy Director Maroof Shah said the installation of the remaining modules could be completed in two or three months if a firm with the required skills and resources came forward. He said work on the construction of a burns centre had not started because of bureaucratic barriers.