Dental College project facing hurdles

Larkana, The project for constructing of a dental college as a constituent college of the Chandka Medical College approved in 2004 has run into problems and hurdles in the provincial buildings department which has since doubled its primary cost over the years from Rs99.153 million to Rs184.194 million.

The project was a creation of former district nazim Khursheed Junejo who gave its permission in a meeting held on Aug 30, 2004. Six years on, Mr Junejo is now Pakistans ambassador for the UAE and the project he visualized had been left halfway. The scheme titled Establishment of Dental Faculty in CMC had first appeared in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2005-06 with initial allocation of Rs1 million and rough cost estimates amounting to Rs99.153 million, said Prof Dr Sikandar Mughal, registrar of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SBBMU), Larkana.

He said that work on the scheme kicked off in 2006-07 but it came to an abrupt halt in 2008-09 and the reason cited by the department concerned was shortage of funds. The executive engineer of the buildings department intimated to the SBBMU that the department was unable to complete the scheme under the prevailing circumstances (within the approved cost), he said.

Some time later, exhibiting sheer professional negligence, the registrar said, the department demanded 50 per cent rise in the project cost instead of 15 per cent, which was incomprehensible. The engineer and the contractors should be taken to task for the unnecessary delay and negligence, he said.

Interestingly, the sources in the department said, the executive engineer while revising the cost estimates called for allocation of Rs184.194 million for completing work on the project. It was a very huge amount, said the registrar.

Prof Sikandar Shaikh, vice-chancellor of the SBBMU, had said at a function held on Oct 8 at the Paediatrics Surgery Department that equipment worth Rs50 million meant for the Chandka Dental College had been gathering rust but no one had bothered to show up to inquire about its fate.

The sources in the SBBMU said that accounts section of the Chandka Medical College sent a letter (CMC/Acct/2106) dated May 11, 2010 to the provincial department of health, requesting it to expedite work on the project.

The letter was sent only after the secretary of health asked for resubmitting PC-I, which had already been submitted, with demand for early allocation and release of Rs184.194 million to resume work on the project. But the letter failed to elicit a reply and the project’s file continued to gather dust at the planning and development department’s accounts section, said the sources.

The Larkana chapter of the Pakistan Medical Association has expressed concern over unnecessary delay in resumption of work on the dental college. Prof Dr Afsar Bhutto, Larkana president of the PMA, said that the college could have a second intake in BDS course had it not been delayed on flimsy grounds. Presently, BDS course is offered only at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, and in Karachi. The scheme for the dental college in Larkana was older than that of Karachi in the Dow Medical University, which clearly spoke volumes for the step-motherly treatment being meted out to peripheral areas, said Dr Bhutto.

After completion, the dental college will cater to candidates of Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Sukkur, Ghotki, Naushahro Feroze and some parts of Dadu district.