PESHAWAR - The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to set up an emergency hospital for COVID-19 patients.
According to a spokesman for the KP chief minister, the 300-bed hospital will be established with the support of the federal government in Dauranpur suburban area Peshawar, for which the required 79 kanals land is available with the provincial health department.
As proposed, the provincial government will provide land and purchase medical equipment for the hospital whereas the federal government will construct the hospital building through National Disaster Management Authority.
Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has signed a summary of health department moved in this respect.
The chief minister termed the establishment of the hospital as a dire need of hour and said it would reduce burden of patients on hospitals.
He said it would cater for the needs of any such emergencies in the future as well.
Meanwhile, the chief minister chaired a meeting here to review progress on Rashakai and Hattar Economic Zones projects.
During the meeting, he directed the concerned authorities to finalize all the pre-requisites and arrangements for the formal groundbreaking of Rashakai Economic Zone and to set timeline for the timely completion of all the pre-requisite so that practical work on the mega project could be started without any delay.
He further directed the relevant quarters to take all required steps to finalize the development agreements of the project as well.
Minister Akbar Ayub and Special Assistant to CM on Industries, Abdul Karim Khan, Principal Secretary to CM, Shahab Ali Shah, Secretary Planning & Development, Secretary Industries, Chief Executive Officers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade; and other officials attended the meeting.
The meeting was given a detailed briefing about the progress made so far on both the economic zones as well as about the impediments hindering the progress in some particular areas.
Mahmood Khan directed the relevant officers to identify all the issues of the project related to the federal organizations and to complete homework so that the same could be taken up with the federal government for timely solution.
He also directed the quarter concerned to settle the issue of alternate land acquisition for Hattar Economic Zone project as well and expedite work on the proposed Mohmand and Buner Economic Zones projects.
Addressing the participants of the meeting Mahmood Khan termed the Rashakai Economic Zone Project as a development initiative of national importance and said that it was one of the top priorities of both the federal and provincial governments to translate the project into reality.