PUL-I-ALAM (SW): Hundreds of thousands of residents of the southeastern provinces still wait to see Pakistan fulfill the promise it made nearly a decade ago to establish a public hospital in Logar province.
Pakistan pledged to develop the 200-bed “Naib Aminullah Khan Logari Hospital (NAKLH)” here in 2008 with the cost of $36 million.
It was said the hospital would have five blocks on 50 acres of land and will be completed during two and half years. The Islamabad government then announced $ 16 million would be allocated for construction of the building, $ 8 million for modern equipments and the remaining amount will be used for other requirements of the hospital.
The locals regret all these promises have so far proven empty.
“All serious patients from nearby villages and even far away localities come here seeking remedy but the hospital is incomplete and many patients lose lives waiting for treatment”, Lutfullah Khan, a local in Pul-i-Alam told SW.
On average, 700 patients arrive here daily seeking treatment for their illnesses. The lingering project has made many believe Pakistan was deliberately delaying the project in the wake of political rift between the two countries.
Dr. Aashiqullah Majidi, Director NAKLH said in this regard patients were being treated in a rented facility as development work was slowly underway on the main building. “Last month a terrorist attack in Pul-i-Alam has seriously damaged the rented facility leaving us to literally operate in the open space”, he noted.
Dr. Mohammad Zarif, Head of the Provincial Health Department told SW up to 90 % of the development work is done but the rest plus equipment and other stuff remains to be provided. “We have assured full security and comfort of the Pakistani engineers working on the project but still there is reluctance on their part to proceed with the project”, he said.
Governor Logar Haleem Fidaye mentioned that he has asked the Afghan government many times to push Pakistan in meeting its promise as soon as possible. “I have been asking the President, Masharano Jirga [senate] and Wolesi Jirga [lower house] for the past four years now to make Pakistan resume work on NAKLH”, the governor said.
Lying southeast of the capital Kabul, Logar has 40 primary healthcare centers and only one main public hospital to cater hundreds of thousands of people.
During his visit to Kabul in May, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promised his government would ensure timely completion of all pending projects supported by the Islamabad government in Afghanistan.
ENDS
