FAISALABAD: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide Rs2.5 billion for the construction of the Children’s Hospital in Faisalabad.
JICA had previously provided consultancy and equipment to several companies in the Punjab, including the Water and Sanitation Agency and the Traffic Engineering Transport Planning Agency.
A JICA team will visit Faisalabad on Tuesday (today) to be briefed on the hospital project. It will meet the Allied Hospital’s Board of Management.
Allied Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Rashid Maqbool told The Express Tribune that the children’s hospital project was initiated during former chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s term. He said though funds for the project had been released, land had not been allotted for it. He said the funds were later spent on other welfare projects.
He said former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif had later allotted land on Jhang Road for the construction of the hospital.
He thanked JICA for their assistance. He said a children’s hospital was urgently required in the district. He said children were often referred to the Children’s Hospital in Lahore and most parents could not afford to travel or stay there.
The 1,000-bed Children’s Hospital is estimated to cost Rs3 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2013.