CDWP approves cancer hospital project in haste

The federal government on Tuesday approved in haste nearly Rs53 billion worth of Nawaz Sharif cancer hospital project without fulfilling the essential requirements of having a detailed feasibility study and a business plan.

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) cleared the scheme by ignoring serious lapses in project preparation. It instead gave six-month time to the provincial government for fixing the gaps. Hours after the CDWP meeting, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) also pushed through the Nawaz Sharif cancer hospital project. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar chaired the Ecnec meeting.

The CDWP meeting was chaired by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Ahsan Iqbal, which was his first meeting as the CDWP chairman after Dr Jehanzab Khan resigned last week.

The government of Punjab will finance the establishment of Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cancer Treatment & Research. The hospital is planned to be set up in Lahore at a cost of Rs52.7 billion.

For this fiscal year, the provincial government has allocated Rs6 billion in its development budget for construction activities.

The Planning Commission had earlier recommended to the CDWP that the project may be approved only after the provincial government provided a detailed feasibility study with business plan, governance plan, human resources requirement, institutional framework and exit strategy for a sustainability model.

The CDWP gave a six-month deadline to fulfill these requirements.

The Planning Commission had observed that there were no details of building another potentially huge patient turnover health facility and the prospects for building a cancer hospital in any other city of the province. The provincial government wants to complete the project over a period of almost three years. It told the CDWP that the rising number of cancer patients in the province did not have much option for treatment other than a few private hospitals, which was a huge expenditure burden on poor patients.

These people are devoid of any treatment facility due to their inability to bear the cost of a highly expensive treatment.

The provincial government stated that there was a dire need to build a complete cancer hospital and research institute where quality treatment could be offered to poor patients free of cost.

The Planning Commission had observed that the cost of the project was based on "rough estimates", which could result in cost overruns. It stated that the Manual for Development Project 2024 required that the "costing of the project should be based on realistic and justified market prices, indicating quantities and unit values and on the basis of a detailed engineering design. Projects with rough cost estimates will not be accepted."

The provincial government is building the hospital to provide low-cost, quality and comprehensive cancer treatment through a 565-bed facility. The cancer treatment-related services will be integrating various modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and palliative care.

The provincial government said that the project would serve as a beacon of hope for patients and families, offering state-of-the-art facilities and personalised treatment plans.

The Planning Commission said that there was financial risk in running the mega project without a detailed feasibility study. It added that the PC-I did not reflect a detailed financial plan for the source of funding to manage the huge cost of cancer treatment. There is also no recruitment plan.

However, the Punjab government told the CDWP that a preliminary feasibility study with engineering designs, estimated cost and soil investigation study had been provided. But detailed studies were not yet ready.