Afridi vows to set up new rehab centres

17,000 drug addicts have been treated at the MATRC, thus far

ISLAMABAD: State Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Shehryar Afridi on Thursday vowed to set up new rehabilitation centres for drug addicts in the federal to help them regain control of their lives and become productive and healthy members of society.

He said this during a surprise visit to a Modern Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre (MATRC) in Islamabad on Thursday. The MATRC is operated by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Regional Directorate.

During the visit, Afridi met with over 36 addicts who are being rehabilitated at the MATRC. Talking with the addicts, Afridi inquired about the facilities being provided to the inmates.

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ANF headquarters International Coordination Director Brigadier Sijeel Haider briefed the minister about the centre.

Haider said that some 17,000 drug addicts have been treated at the rehabilitation centre thus far, adding that the centre has 36 beds. The minister was told that no staff has been hired for the centre yet and it is being run by volunteers.

He added that inmates were being provided treatment free of cost.

He further said that the Narcotics Control Ministry had approved plans to construct a new building for the rehabilitation centre and a project concept-I (PC-I) for the project worth Rs245 million has already been approved.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2019.