Mardan mayor opposes shifting of health project

MARDAN: Mayor Himayatullah Mayar on Friday criticized the provincial government for its decision to shift the Khyber Institute of Neuro Sciences and Clinical Research projected from Mardan to Peshawar.

The Awami National Party (ANP) during its government had announced the project where all types of specialties of neurosurgery and neurology would be available after completion.

The ANP government allocated funds and 20 kanal land near Abdul Wali Khan University for the project.

However, when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came into power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the 2013 election it stopped funds for the project. Now the newly elected government of PTI has decided to shift this project to Peshawar.

Mayor Himayatullah Mayar said that Mardan was being deprived of several key projects. He said the incumbent PTI government was now returning the land of the project to the owners.

He said that despite the survey and project planning for a new advanced cancer hospital in Mardan, the recent decisions of the provincial government deprived the people of Mardan of much-needed hospital. The mayor said that previous projects like the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), Pakistan’s third-largest Benazir Bhutto Children Hospital, and other significant initiatives were also being neglected.

He said that though the provincial government issued funds for the loss-making Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, it did not allocate Rs3.5 billion for the owners of the land acquired for different projects in Mardan.