Construction deadline of Manang Hospital extended four times in four years

By Yaduprasad Bhatta,Manang, July 23: District Hospital Manang, which came into operation in March 1989 after completing the construction of its old building, is now facing several problems. 

Initially, the hospital was brought into operation to provide primary health services to the people of the remote areas. 

After the old building turned risky, a contract was awarded to Om Buddha/Buddha JV Company to construct a new hospital building at a cost of Rs. 140 million and to upgrade the hospital into a 15-bed hospital in 2019.  

The construction has not been completed despite extending deadlines four times in four years.

The construction of the hospital should have been completed by mid-July this year, but the deadline has been extended for the fourth time until the end of October. 

Acting Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr. Bharati Mehta said that the deadline was extended till October 2024. 

The bitter reality has been that the patients from the remote areas have to suffer even for common ailments due to the delay in completing the construction in time.  

As a result, the people of Manang have not been freed from the necessity of resorting to helicopters or going to well-equipped hospitals outside the district even for general treatment.

Anil Ghimire, the contractor of Om Buddha/Buddha JV Company, claimed to have completed 80 per cent of the financial work and 98 per cent of the physical work and said that the company would complete the work by mid-July, but when the construction work was not completed, he declined to respond to the phone calls.

Works to paint the hospital and lay the tiles began in May, but the construction has not been completed yet.  

Meanwhile, Gandaki  Provincial Assembly member Munindra Jung Gurung said that if the construction was not completed in time, there would be problems for the service users and that they were trying to complete the construction and hand it over as soon as possible.

The upgrade of the hospital was started when Gurung was the vice chairman of the rural municipality. He said that the work was being done but could not be completed as an adequate budget was not released in time. 

Dr. Mehta claimed that they took many initiatives on behalf of the hospital.

Dr. Mehta said they were facing the problem of not only the building but also the lack of other things.

"What can we do with just a new building? There should have been skilled manpower in remote areas. The government has fixed vacancies for 18 permanent posts for Manang District Hospital, but currently only five permanent employees are working in the hospital. The government has not appointed manpower in the vacant posts,” Dr. Mehta said. 

According to Dr. Mehta, there are problems such as a lack of skilled manpower, a lack of environment to work in two shifts, and the refusal of employees to come to work in remote areas.