Establishment of tertiary care hospital in Peshawar: KP govt agrees to lease out 100 kanal land to private sector

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtu-nkhwa government has principally agreed to lease out a prime location of 100 kanals of land to a private sector to build a modern tertiary care hospital in the provincial capital.

“It would be a big achievement and great service to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if a standard health facility in the shape of a world class tertiary care hospital is established in Peshawar. The provincial cabinet in its meeting held on Tuesday has approved for seeking services of IFC (International Finance Corporation) in competitive bidding and better utilisation of the prime land in Peshawar,” KP Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra told The News on Wednesday.

He said the cabinet had also approved similar public private partnership hospitals in Malakand and Hazara divisions as well as in southern districts of the province.

About the 100 kanal of precious land in Peshawar next to the Islamabad-Peshawar motorway, Taimur Jhagra said it has a long story of giving it to some projects but never utilised. “The same land was acquired for a hospital in 1988-89 and the PPP, PML-N, ANP and the MMA governments came and went but no hospital was ever made. Now the chief minister and the cabinet approved Pakistan’s first greenfield tertiary hospital on the same location through public private partnership,” he explained.

In the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf coalition government, then chief minister Pervez Khattak had signed an agreement with Indus Hospital for establishing a state-of-the-art hospital but it never materialised, apparently due to weak follow-up on the part of Pervez Khattak and lack of cooperation of the bureaucracy. It demoralised the Indus Hospital management and decided to avoid investment in Peshawar. They were welcomed and facilitated in Punjab where they established quality of health facilities. Also, it was decided during the coalition government of Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party to establish a medical college, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical College, on the same land but the government then didn’t execute the plan. Interestingly, Zahir Ali Shah, who belongs to the PPP, was the health minister but he couldn’t establish the college but the then chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti gave the task of setting up a medical college- Bacha Khan Medical College (BKMC) to a noted ophthalmologist, Prof Dr Ziaul Islam and he raised a quality of medical college in Mardan.

Taimur Jhagra said the main reason for involving IFC, an international financial institution that offers grants, investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage the individuals, private-sector and public-sector development in all countries, to get attention of world class health facilities.

He said one reason that the land could not be utilised properly was the sole sourcing policy, which means allotting the land to one party without competitive tendering. “We don’t want to repeat the practice of sole sourcing. Our aim is to encourage and invite a good investor to establish a world class health facility but would select it through a competitive tender process,” he argued.

Taimur Jhagra said IFC had facilitated similar deals and helped establish quality of health facilities in Turkey, India, etc.

According to him, it would be on the pattern of BRT or Rashakai Industrial Zone being run by the public private partnership scheme.

The health minister said he would prefer the Aga Khan Hospital to establish a standard health facility but obviously they would come through a competitive tender process. Some people in Peshawar misunderstood a statement of the health minister as if the government had allotted the land to IFC for establishing the hospital.

Taimur Jhagra said the role of IFC would be facilitating and selecting or striking a deal with international reputed investors in Peshawar.

“The involvement of the World Bank will help us as international investors will take this offer seriously. Also, the bureaucracy will feel comfortable to sign the agreement following the cabinet approval and utilising the land under public private partnership,” said the health minister.

Taimur Jhagra said he during his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) visited some international health facilities and found two hospitals, American Hospital and King’s College Hospital of the United Kingdom, among the few top hospitals. “The King’s Hospital established a medical college in the UAE and their entire management is almost Pakistani. The medical director was Pakhtun from Peshawar and all of them were willing to come and establish a hospital and medical college in Peshawar, due to a lot of talent here,” he recalled.