MULTAN: On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged that public welfare projects be completed as quickly as possible and emphasised that such initiatives should not be politicised for the benefit of the public. Speaking while on a tour of the 500 bed Nishtar Hospital II, which is still under construction, he claimed that the public welfare projects experienced a significant setback under the previous administration. The prime minister expressed his delight with the pace of the hospital’s construction but regretted that phase II of Nishtar Hospital’s building was abandoned while Imran Khan was prime minister. He said that the huge patient population in the city and surrounding areas was impacted by the non-implementation of the development projects.
He expressed confidence that under the supervision of Interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, the expansion of hospital would be completed by Septermber 30. The import of modern machinery will also help ensure effective implementation of the work, he added.
PM Sharif also lauded the efforts of the Commissioner of Multan, the Health Secretary and other officials concerned in carrying out the hospital project effectively.
He proposed the idea of establishing a Medical City in the area to facilitate the locals with state-of-the-art medical facilities.
Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman, Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and senior provincial government officials were present.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif here on Thursday visited the site of Nishtar-II hospital to check the status of mega tertiary healthcare project worth Rs 9450 million and praise Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his team for their untiring efforts that made the OPD operational and formal completion in sight, by September 30, 2023.
Soon after his arrival at Multan International airport, the prime minister reached the Nishtar-II hospital site where he received briefing from CEO Infrastructure Development Authority of Punjab (IDAP) and was informed that the project was initiated on December 29, 2019 carrying a cost of Rs 9450 million at a spacious 456 Kanal area and so far Rs 7430 million funding had been utilized, about 79 per cent of the total cost.
PM Shehbaz Sharif commended the health secretary Punjab Ali Jan Khan, Commissioner Multan engineer Amir Khatak, IDAP CEO and all relevant department who did hard work to make another most advanced tertiary healthcare facility that would benefit people of Multan, rest of south Punjab besides nearby districts of Sindh and Balochistan.
The prime minister said, the machinery had arrived and expressed his desire for completion of the project as per the schedule.
Shehbaz Sharif later told media persons that a lot space was available around the project site and added that he would talk to the chief minister to develop a medical city there.
After the briefing, the prime minister accompanying CM Naqvi visited the Nishtar-II OPD where he talked to some patients and enquired after their health and the level of facilities being provided.
MNA Ahmad Hussain Dehar, on this occasion, thanked the prime minister for providing NIshtar-II facility and described it as a gift for Multaniites. “We had lost hope that project would see the light of the day. But with your support, this project will complete soon,” he added.
Earlier before the arrival of the prime minister, Mohsin Naqvi visited the Nishtar-II, visited its different sections and reviewed the pace of progress.
Foolproof security arrangements were put in place by the police on the occasion.
