Polyclinic expansion: Cabinet needs to OK park land transfer waiver

Senate panel told PM refuses to use discretionary powers, issue on next cabinet meeting agenda

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Division informed a senate committee on Friday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has refused to grant a one-time waiver of rules on the use of public parks for the Polyclinic extension project.

The prime minister has instead asked for the request to be presented before the federal cabinet in its next meeting.

“It has been forwarded for inclusion in the agenda of the next cabinet meeting,” Cabinet Division additional secretary Khusro Pervez informed the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat.

The meeting discussed issues related to poor health facilities for patients at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and vacant positions at Polyclinic, apart from a follow up discussion on handing over possession of one-third of Argentina Park for the expansion of Polyclinic.

The committee, headed by Senator Kalsoom Perveen, has been pursuing the Argentina Park-Polyclinic issue for the last four years.

In the past, the ‘relevant authority — the Capital development Authority — has refused to hand over possession of the land on the grounds that it would violate the city’s master plan. Any amendment to the city’s Master Plan requires the endorsement of the federal cabinet. The city’s master plan bars the use of public park land for any other purpose.

Recently, the CDA offered the committee some alternate land at discounted rates for construction of a separate hospital block at.

The committee refused the offer and insisted on the allotment of 2.54 acres of Argentina Park, which is located adjacent to the hospital.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha said the committee hopes that the cabinet will grant approval without any further delay. He said the release of funds and other relevant issues would be discussed after cabinet approval was received.

Senator Perveen claimed that if the federal cabinet did not accord approval, committee members would start construction work at the site on their own.

Polyclinic is presently spread over 3.3 acres and has 545 beds, while its annual emergency influx is between 2.5 million and three million patients.

Precedent

In 2010, a similar move was made when then-premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, after concurrence with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Planning Division and the CDA board, approved the allotment of additional land for the hospital expansion. Following the decision, the CDA offered land to Polyclinic for Rs55 million.

However, the CDA balked soon after the decision, saying it was against the master plan and required formal endorsement from the federal cabinet.

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