The Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday questioned on what basis it is said that the province [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] has been “transformed into heaven”.
The Chief Justice was hearing a suo motu case on disposal of medical waste from public hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The secretary health KP appeared before the court in the respective case.
As the hearing went under way, the Chief Justice inquired, “Why is KP health secretary not present? The health secretary always appears on his behalf.”
The top judge then asked the KP health secretary whether he has visited the Peshawar mental hospital to which he replied saying he did last week.
Justice Nisar continued, “Over there, humans are kept in worse conditions than animals.” At this, the provincial health secretary said, “We took measures for improvement of conditions after your visit. We are also establishing a separate campus.”
The top judge further remarked, “I got samples from my visit and expired medicines are given over there. Doctors don’t even visit.”
“On what basis do you claim that KP has been transformed into heaven. The province is in tatters,” he added. “I will visit in three to four days and see what improvement has been made.”
The hearing of the case was then adjourned for two months.
During the hearing, the provincial health secretary informed the bench, “4,000kgs of medical waste is produced daily from the 63 public hospitals in KP and machines can only dispose off 3,600kgs of waste.”
At this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked, “Even now, 480kgs of medical waste is not disposed in KP hospitals.”
Further, the chief justice added, “The provincial government failed to make arrangements for proper disposal of waste.”
The health secretary then said, “860kgs of medical waste is produced daily from 158 private hospitals in KP and they have the capacity to dispose 532kgs of waste on a daily basis.”
When Justice Ahsan said, “We have given you till December 2019 to ensure proper disposal of medical waste”, the provincial health secretary said, “We will try our best to make sure the matter is resolved by June next year.”
