USAID pledges $120m for building 120 schools in Sindh

Qaim forms working group to improve performance of

Jaccobabad Institute of Medical Sciences

Karachi

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged $165 million in grant for the Sindh Basic Education Programme under which 120 schools will be constructed all over Sindh, said a statement issued by the provincial government on Thursday.              

The announcement came after US Consul General Brian Heath, the consulate general’s new political/economic chief, Edward Burkhalter, and outgoing political/economic chief Chad Peterson called on Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at the CM House. 

The meeting was also attended by Health Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Alamuddin Bullo. 

The consul general and the chief minister discussed matters pertaining to the Jaccobabad Institute of Medical Sciences (JIMS) so that it could be made one of the best hospitals of the country. 

Chief Minister Shah said his government was paying special attention to the social sector, particularly health and education, water management and energy. 

“The people of Sindh are very thankful to the American government for extending a helping hand to the Sindh government to provide them the most modern health facilities and good education,” he said.

The state-of-the-art building of the institute has been constructed at a cost of $20 million that came from USAID. The hospital has started functioning but specialist doctors are yet to be recruited.  

The chief minister told the consul general that the selection of doctors, paramedical staff and specialists, as well as the issuance of offer letters, is in the pipeline. 

He directed Minister Health Jam Dahar to go to Jacobabad and issue offer letters within the next two days.

The chief minister constituted a working group comprising the health minister and the political/economic chief of US Consulate, Edward Burkhalter, to improve the performance of the hospital so that it could provide timely, prompt and most modern health services to the people of northern areas of Sindh, and the adjoining areas of Balochistan and Punjab up to southern Punjab.

JIMS is a 133-bed hospital fully equipped with the latest equipment.

Consul General Heath also discussed Sindh Municipal Services delivery Programme (MSDP) and Sindh Basic Education Programme (SBEP). 

Under the USAID-funded MSDP improvement of municipal infrastructure, water supply, sanitation and solid waste management in six selected town of the province with $66 million UDAID contribution as grant.

In the first phase, Jacobabad town has been taken up by USAID for municipal infrastructure upgradation at an estimated cost of $35 million. The $20 million water supply scheme in Jacobabad is in progress and will be completed by June 2017. 

The chief minister said that this would be a great contribution of the US government for the people of Sindh, particularly of Jaccobabad.