Restoration of power supply to hospital in Bara demanded

BARA: Residents of Bara tehsil have asked the government to restore the electricity supply to Dogra Hospital forthwith, or else they would stage protest against the officials concerned.

They expressed concern over the suspension of electricity to the hospital where hundreds of patients including women and children reach to avail healthcare facilities.

Talking to The News, an area resident, Irfanullah Afridi, said that the tribal people faced various problems even after restoration of peace.

He said the government did not give priority to issues being faced by the tribal people such as healthcare, education and development projects.

"We also face problem of drinking water supply, besides lack of development projects, which must be launched now after the tribal areas were merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province," he said, adding that Bara residents have been perturbed as the power supply has been suspended to the hospital.

He questioned why the government suspended the electricity to its own (state-run) hospital. "Several patients are shifted to other hospitals on a daily basis due to non-availability of test facilities like X-Rays, ultrasound and others due to suspension of electricity," he said.

Another resident, Ali Akhtar Afridi, said that the hospitals in tribal districts needed facilities.

"On the one side, about 1000 men, women and children suffer from leishmania, malaria and other diseases but the government did not provide treatment to many patients, while philanthropists and army organised free medical camps in Dogra hospital," he said, adding: "We face several problems due to Fata merger into KP."

They demanded the Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) as well as elected parliamentarians of the area to help in restoration of power supply to Dogra Hospital forthwith.

When contacted, District Surgeon Dr Ayub Afridi said that the Tesco had suspended electricity to the hospital one month ago. He added that the Tesco had sent Rs11,400,000 power bill, stating that it also included arrears.

He claimed that facilities like X-Rays, laboratory tests, ultrasound, etc were provided in the hospital. "We have installed an electricity generator but the administration does not take any extra payment from the patients," he said.