Hospital unused, 3 years into building
Construction of the 50-bed Saltha Upazila Health Complex was completed in 2016 but it is yet to become operational due to lack of manpower and medical equipment.
As a result, about five lakh people of the upazila are being deprived of getting medical treatment. Especially serious patients are the worst sufferers, said locals.
They have to go to Faridpur Medical College Hospital or Nagarkanda Upazila Health Complex for any kind of medical treatment. The hospital is 24 kilometres from Saltha upazila headquarters while Nagarkanda Upazila Health Complex 15 km from the headquarters.
According to the Saltah Upazila Health Department, the foundation stone of the health complex was laid by Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, MP from Faridpur-2 constituency and also the deputy leader of the house, in 2012. Most of the construction work of the health complex, except the boundary wall, was completed in 2016 spending Tk 18.7 crore under the Health Population and Nutrition Center Development Project.
On a recent visit, this correspondent found that some parts of the brick made road at the health complex compound have been washed away by rainwater.
College student Mafiqul Islam, 26, of Khoar village in Saltah upazila said a few critical patients of his area died on the way to Faridpur and Nagarkanda.
Md Jahiduzzaman Khan, 28, of Ramkantapur village said they are suffering a lot due to lack of a hospital in Saltha.
Delwar Hossain, president of Saltha upazila unit of Awami League, said they earlier informed the local lawmaker about the matter and now hopes that the problem will be resolved as the national elections have been held.
Faridpur Civil Surgeon Md Abu Zahra said they cannot start operation of the health complex due to lack of manpower and medical equipment.
He has already informed the higher authorities about the matter and hopes that the problem will be resolved soon.
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