Marriyum orders timely completion of MCH

Rawalpindi : Senior Punjab Minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday visited the long-stalled federal government project Mother and Child Hospital (MCH), Rawalpindi and reviewed the details regarding the handing over of the project to the Punjab government.

According to the details, the minister inspected the constructed parts of the hospital and was briefed about the project.

A detailed briefing on the work done and the remaining project was given to the minister.

Speaking during the briefing, Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the project was started with public money but has been continuously stalled.

She said that CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif has directed to complete and activate the project for the welfare of the people.

She said that the process of transferring this project from the federation to the provincial government of Punjab was being reviewed and important decisions would be taken in this regard in a special meeting to be chaired by the chief minister.

The minister further said that the chief minister does not want any accusations regarding this project and she wants immediate implementation of this project for public welfare.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the Punjab government would plan to increase the number of beds from 200 to 400. A formal timeline of the project will be drawn up and the project will be realistically completed after handing over to Punjab, she added.

Speaking on the occasion, Member National Assembly Hanif Abbasi said that the PML-N government started mega projects like Metro Bus Service and Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi, and functionalised them in timely for public interest.

He said that cutting the ribbon and laying the foundation stone of the project is not a big deal, but the on-time completion of the project should be focused.

Earlier during the briefing, it was informed that the project was started 20 years ago with a cost of Rs1.6 billion and now its cost has reached Rs8 billion, but the project has not been completed.

MNAs Tahira Aurangzeb, Malik Ibrar, VC Rawalpindi Medical University and Commissioner Amir Khattak were also present during the briefing.