LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said the government is attaching top priority to the provision of modern health facilities in far-flung and backward areas. Availability of doctors, paramedical staff and necessary medicines has been ensured in hospitals so that people could get modern treatment facilities without any discrimination, he said, while laying foundation-stone of a modern 150-bed hospital to be constructed at a cost of Rs 40 million at Dairy Farm near Jheka Gali in Murree on Monday. Member National Assembly Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Advisor to Chief Minister Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, Member Provincial Assembly Raja Fayyaz Sarwar, President Pakistan Muslim League-N Murree, Daftar Abbasi, Arshad Nawaz Abbasi and concerned officers were present. During inspection of the site of the hospital, the Chief Minister directed that minimum trees should be removed for the construction of the hospital and residences and the project should be completed within nine months. He said special attention should be paid to the maintenance of the beauty of the area during construction of the hospital while in addition to provision of modern treatment, parking and other facilities should also be provided. He further directed that MRI, CT Scan as well as other medical and diagnostic facilities should be provided in the hospital and all necessary departments should be established. Most suitable site at main road has been selected for the hospital which is easily accessible to the patients of all areas. A huge amount has been allocated in the budget for the health sector for the provision of modern treatment facilities in rural and urban areas. Other development projects for the benefit of the tourists and local residents of Murree are also being executed expeditiously and instructions have been issued to the concerned department to accelerate the pace of construction for the timely completion of the projects, he added. On the other hand, people of Murree have thanked Shahbaz Sharif for laying the foundation stone of a 150-bed modern hospital in Murree after 23 years. In 1986, the then CM Nawaz Sharif had inaugurated an 80-bed hospital in Tehsil Headquarters Murree, and now approval had been given for the project of construction of a modern hospital in the area. The new hospital will cater to the medical needs of lakhs of tourists, local residents as well as people of Murree, Hazara, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and other areas at Murree, which is a tourist spot of international significance. Various development projects and modern tourist facilities being provided by Punjab government will result in further increase in the number of tourists to the area.