Pims Spokesperson says, “the hospital administration has hired a private security firm to look after the parking lot and responsibility lies with the security guards, not with the hospital administration.”
Employees of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) have expressed concern over poor security arrangements at the hospital’s parking lots, which has resulted in a worrying number of car thefts.
Dr Mohammad Haroon, a medical specialist at Pims, told The Express Tribune that at least four cars belonging to staff members have been stolen from the hospital since the beginning of August.
“Three doctors and a paramedical staffer had lodged complaints with the police and the hospital administration after their cars were stolen from the car park,” he said.
He said that security guards usually perform their duty in the car park, but after 2pm, no guards can be seen.
Another senior doctor said that security guards should be deputed for 24-hour at the main gate of the hospital to check vehicles’ entry and exit.
“Usually the security guards remain on duty till 2pm at the main gate. After that, movement of cars and other vehicles goes unchecked.”
“People pay Rs10 as car parking fee each and in return get receipts from a security guard at the park area, but surprisingly, their cars still go missing and it seemed the security guards were of no use.
A medical staffer also said that at least eight complaints of car thefts had come from patients and attendants during the last two months.
A security guard at the car park refused to talk to The Express Tribune.
When contacted, Pims Spokesperson Dr Ayesha said, “The hospital administration has hired a private security firm to look after the parking lot and responsibility lies with the security guards, not with the hospital administration.”
Islamabad Traffic Superintendent of Police Mustansar Feroze told The Express Tribune that cars used to be stolen from the Pims’ car park on a daily basis two years ago, and to overcome the issue, the hospital administration hired a private security firm and introduced a token system. He said that the police had their own checks on vehicle theft cases, but it was the responsibility of the particular security firm and its guards look after the parking lot.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2013.
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