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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Sindh govt to outsource two new hospitals

By Our Correspondent
July 21, 2019

The Sindh government’s Public-Private Partnership Policy (PPPP) Board has decided to operate two newly-constructed hospitals — the Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences (JIMS) and the Government Taluka Hospital Matli — on public-private partnership (PPP) basis so they can provide efficient services round the clock.

The 29th meeting of the PPPP Board was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM House on Saturday.

The meeting was told that JIMS has been established with the assistance of the US over an area of five acres, with a cost of $14.5 billion. It is a 133-bed health facility with the total staff strength of 141, of whom only 14 are government employees.

Presently, only a few of its departments are functional. Its OPD cases during 2018 were recorded at 492,566. Obstetrics cases were 4,130 and family planning cases were 2,061.

This health facility being located in Jacobabad is being availed by a large number of patients from Sindh and Balochistan. The CM said that it was a state-of-the-art health facility, adding that they should operate it as a tertiary-care health facility.

The health department through the PPP Unit submitted that the hospital may be outsourced so that it could operate efficiently and round-the-clock. The board approved the proposal of inviting expressions of interest from the private sector, while the health facilities there would be further improved.

The meeting also discussed the 30-bed Matli taluka hospital that was established in 1975 and upgraded in 1978. It was providing OPD services to 800 to 1,000 patients and has 20- to 25-bed occupancy rate per day.

It has TB and dental clinics, a family planning unit and a well-equipped labour room, where on an average 100 to 125 deliveries are carried out every month. The hospital has an X-ray department, an ultra-sound machine and also an ambulance service.

The health department through the PPP Unit requested the board to outsource the taluka hospital so that its administration as well as other requirements, including those of staff and residential colony, could be met.

The board approved the request, but the provincial chief executive directed the health department to meet the medical and paramedical staff’s requirements of the hospital.

Malir Expressway

The board meeting was told that the Malir Expressway project was ready to be launched through the PPP mode, but there was a ban on the lifting of sand and gravel from the bed of the Malir River. Therefore, the cost of the project would increase.

The CM directed the chief secretary to conduct the environmental impact assessment study of the project on the issue of the lifting of sand and gravel from the bed of the Malir River.

If the study points out the lifting of sand and gravel to be detrimental to the environment, then this option would be abandoned, as sand and gravel would be brought from somewhere else, otherwise the Supreme Court may be requested to lift the ban in the larger interest of the project.

Treatment Plant III

The Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) is interested in the establishment of a Municipal Wastewater Recycling Project catering to the SITE Area under the Treatment Plant III project.

This project envisages engaging a private party to take over the responsibility of the water supply to industries, ensuring water supply and carrying out the operations and maintenance (O&M) upgrading, and replacement and establishment of the requisite municipal wastewater infrastructure.

The CM said that municipal wastewater recycling for industrial use was a proven way to reduce stress on freshwater resources without compromising on industrial growth.

The project has two major components: the first is the primary, secondary and tertiary treatment plant, and the second is the development of a pipeline network for the distribution of water to industries. The PPPP Board approved to engage transaction advisory to launch the project on the PPP mode.

Link Road

The works & services department through the PPP Unit presented 22km, four-lane Link Road construction on the PPP mode. Keeping in view the poor condition of Link Road, the department requested the board to approve the initiation of the investors’ solicitation process in tandem with the finalisation of the feasibility study.

The policy board approved the launch of the project for solicitation.

Ghotki-Kandhkot Bridge

The works & services department signed a concession agreement with the Ghotki-Kandhkot Road & Bridge Company. On the objections of the irrigation department, which wanted a complete hydraulic study from the Nadipur Lab, the CM deferred the item and decided to conduct a separate meeting on the alignment and hydraulic study of the project. The CM also decided to invite the locals to firm up the final recommendations.

Teachers Training Institute

As per the management contract, the school education department would transfer the annual budget for salary and allowances of the sanctioned vacant position of the GECE Hussainabad to the private party Durbeen.

The policy board approved the allocation of an annual budget for the sanctioned vacant posts from the Viability Gap Fund (VGF) to ensure the smooth functioning of the GECE Hussainabad.

Non-formal education

The provincial government approved the Non-Formal Education (NFE) Policy of 2017 as an alternative path to educate out-of-school children, as well as adolescents and adults. The school education department aims to outsource NFE service delivery to community-based organisations, non-profit organisations and private partners through the PPP mechanism.

The department is of the view said that PPP in NFE would improve the quality of education and its access to out-of-school children, thereby improving the literacy rate in the province. The PPPP Board approved the conducting of a feasibility study to explore possible PPP arrangements for the NFE subsector.

Sindh Leasing Company

The PPPP Board has already approved the capital injections and the overhead expenses for forming companies such as Mudarba, General Insurance and Sindh Leasing Company, and approved the forming cost through the VGF.

Accordingly, the payment of Rs3.308 million and Rs1 million were made from the VGF on account of stamp duty and CDC charges. The relevant department also requested for the provision of post-facto approval for an additional payment of Rs4.9625 million on account of fresh issue fee and stamp duty, which the board approved.

Marble City Project

The Sindh government has allocated 300 acres for the development of the Marble City Project in Deh Mithaghar, about two kilometres from the Northern Bypass.

The Sindh Investment Department requested the policy board to approve the hiring of transaction advisory services for the project from the Project Development Fund (PDF), which the board approved.

NED Technology Park

The NED University and the investment department are interested in establishing the NED Technology Park under the PPP mode to further regional and national economic development by creating conditions for the development of technologies and transfer of knowledge from the university to business and by building the competitive edge for the industry. The policy board approved the conducting of comprehensive feasibility study for establishing the park.

Sukkur mega intervention

The provincial government is undertaking a feasibility study for Sukkur-specific mega interventions, such as Sukkur Dr Port and an International Cargo Terminal, in the first phase. The PPPP Board approved the hiring of consultants for the project and funding from the PDF for transaction advisory services.

Foot-and-mouth disease

Pakistan has a livestock population of 195.9 million. The prevalence of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Sindh is 12.1 per cent to 33.8 per cent. In Punjab the prevalence is 10 per cent to 54 per cent.

Currently, no public or private sector is producing FMD vaccine in Pakistan. Such a vaccine is unaffordable for subsistence farmers due to its high import cost. Therefore, farmers are facing huge economic losses. The PPPP Board approved conducting a feasibility study and transaction advisory services for the project from the PDF.

The PPPP Board meeting was also attended by ministers Dr Azra Pechuho, Saeed Ghani and Syed Sardar Shah, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Planning & Development Chairperson Naheed Shah, Principal Secretary to CM Sajid Jamal Abro, NED University Vice Chancellor Dr Sarosh Lodhi, provincial secretaries Qazi Shahid Pervez, Najam Shah, Saeed Awan, Ahsan Mangi and Aslam Ansari, PPP Unit Managing Director Khalid Shaikh and KWSB MD Asadullah Khan.