Wasted resources: Nine years on, government yet to hand over Rehri Goth hospital

The facility is equipped with furniture, X-Ray machine, operation theatre.

KARACHI:

The government glanced in the direction of the often-neglected Rehri Goth in 2005 and gave money for a 36-bed hospital but the facility has yet to be handed over to the district administration after nine years.

As the bureaucratic delays prolong, the 60,000 residents of Rehri Goth union council and its adjacent areas have to manage with a rural healthcare centre.

Initially, the area only had a three-room dispensary established in an old building but it was later converted into a B-Type Rural Health Centre, which gave it more wards and doctors. The hospital building, inaugurated in 2005, is an A-Type facility with an operation theatre and facilities for X-Ray and ultrasound.



“It looks like a running hospital but it isn’t,” said a resident outside the hospital, Talib Kutchi, who is also an activist of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum. “It is just a building and nothing else.” Kutchi felt that building the hospital but failing to hand it over is just a waste of resources. “We are destroying our own assets. You can judge the government’s priority from this performance.”

“Yes, it has not been handed over yet,” confirmed Karachi health EDO Dr Zafar Ejaz. He said that the approval for hiring employees is the biggest hurdle as the high-ranking officials have yet to give a yes. It is a technical process and would be done once the certificate of completion is given, he added.

Nevertheless, the furniture, X-Ray machine and operation theatre equipment has started gathering rust. The ultrasound machine was moved to the old building to be used but, now, even that has started to deteriorate, the employees complained. “We’ll be under debris soon,” a member of the lower staff claimed.

But like the people of the area, the EDO also believed that thousands of people will benefit once the hospital starts functioning. “The revised PC-I [plan] has been approved,” said Dr Ejaz. “I am hopeful it would be made functional by the end of this year.”

Meanwhile, several officials, including members of the Sindh Assembly and deputy commissioners have visited the hospital and have ensured the staff that the only medical facility in the area will be available to them soon.

Work in progress

The hospital project was approved during the tenure of City Nazim Niamatullah Khan and the foundation stone was laid down by Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA and former provincial minister Shoaib Bukhari. Since then, the construction for the hospital building has been completed while the residential block is still under construction. There is still no electricity supply, sewerage system or a water supply line.

Water supply to the old building was disconnected in 2005. “The water supply line was cut and we were told that it was being connected to the new building,” said a staff member.

Even the rural health centre at the site fails to offer all the facilities as it desperately needs female doctors and other technical staff. Currently, the centre has only two doctors and a medical superintendent.

There are 16 villages in the Rehri Goth union council, including Ilyas Goth, Chashma Goth, Lat Basti, Jattan Jo Parro, Ali Brohi and Bakhtawar Goth. The residents of Gulshan-e-Buner, Attaur Rehman Goth and Abdul Rehman Goth also rely on this health facility.

“We visit private hospitals in the evening,” said Masi Riyasti, who lives near the hospital. The second option is a government hospital in Ibrahim Hyderi or Indus Hospital in Korangi, she added.

Meanwhile, resident Nazir Ahmed said the hospital is of no use to them and they buy all their medicines from private stores. “There is no doctor after 2pm,” he pointed out. “We are one of the oldest residents of Karachi but lack even the most basic facilities.”

“The fishermen need the government’s attention,” said Kutchi. “A majority of the population belongs to the fishermen community yet the government ignores these people.”

But some residents are hopeful the facility will start functioning soon. Several ‘quacks’ have established their clinics in the vicinity. “Their illegal ‘trade’ will end if this hospital is made functional,” said Kutchi.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2014.