By Our correspondent
KARACHI: Syed Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of Sindh, has ordered the health department to reopen the Children Hospital North Karachi within 15 days and has stated his willingness to cover its debts. “The people of North Karachi cannot be denied access to their health facility due to disagreements between the government and the private partner; as a result, the hospital must be opened right away for the greater good of the region.”
This he said while presiding over a 37th meeting of PPP Policy Board at CM House. The meeting was attended by Minister healthDr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Minister LG Nasir Shah, Advisor law Murtaza Wahab, Special Assistant to CM Syed Qasim Naveed, MPA Ghualm Qadir Chandio, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi, VC NED University, SMBR Baqaullah Unar, Aif Brohi, Secretary LG Najam Shah and others. Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho told the chief minister that the Health Department had executed a management contract with Poverty Eradication Initiative (PEI) in Sep 2016 for a period of 10 years. But, the private partner closed the hospital in December 2021 and PEI filed a suit before Sindh High Court on September 22, 2020. Since, the hospital was unfunctional. Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput told the chief minister that he had held a meeting on the issues of the hospital in which Rs616 million liabilities were worked out. He added that Rs425 million were required to operationalize the hospital.
The chief minister stated that he was prepared to immediately release the funding, but the hospital needed to be operational within the following 15 days. He declared unequivocally that “it must be one of the greatest hospitals in the city.” Mr. Shah gave the health department instructions to make sure the hospital was audited as soon as it opened in 2016. The suggestion was accepted by the policy board. The PPP policy board was informed that the government has chosen to install two seawater desalination plants, each of which will have a capacity of 5 MGD, one at Ibrahim Hyderi and the other at Native Jetty or somewhere nearby Kemari, in order to meet water demand. Local govt Nasir Shah said that his department has hired a consultant to feasibility study and transaction advisory service. He added that the desalination technology has been selected for the plant. The meeting was told that each plant may cost over Rs 1billion. The chief minister directed Minister Local Government Nasir Shah to visit the Keamari area and select the site for the plant and also visit the KANUPP plant and report. The CM directed the local govt and Investment departments to launch pre-qualifications documents for 5 MGD Desalination Project under PPP Mode. He added that the project may be taken up on provincial government expenses.
