PESHAWAR                 -                The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa govern­ment has decided to set up an emer­gency hospital for COVID-19 patients.

According to a spokesman for the KP chief minister, the 300-bed hospital will be established with the support of the federal government in Dauranpur sub­urban area Peshawar, for which the re­quired 79 kanals land is available with the provincial health department.

As proposed, the provincial gov­ernment will provide land and pur­chase medical equipment for the hos­pital whereas the federal government will construct the hospital building through National Disaster Manage­ment Authority.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has signed a summary of health depart­ment moved in this respect.

The chief minister termed the estab­lishment of the hospital as a dire need of hour and said it would reduce bur­den of patients on hospitals.

He said it would cater for the needs of any such emergencies in the future as well.

Meanwhile, the chief minister chaired a meeting here to review pro­gress on Rashakai and Hattar Econom­ic Zones projects.

During the meeting, he directed the concerned authorities to final­ize all the pre-requisites and arrange­ments for the formal groundbreak­ing of Rashakai Economic Zone and to set timeline for the timely completion of all the pre-requisite so that practi­cal work on the mega project could be started without any delay.

He further directed the relevant quarters to take all required steps to finalize the development agreements of the project as well.

Minister Akbar Ayub and Special As­sistant to CM on Industries, Abdul Ka­rim Khan, Principal Secretary to CM, Shahab Ali Shah, Secretary Planning & Development, Secretary Industries, Chief Executive Officers of Khyber Pa­khtunkhwa Economic Zones Develop­ment and Management Company and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Invest­ment and Trade; and other officials at­tended the meeting.

The meeting was given a detailed briefing about the progress made so far on both the economic zones as well as about the impediments hindering the progress in some particular areas.

Mahmood Khan directed the rele­vant officers to identify all the issues of the project related to the federal or­ganizations and to complete home­work so that the same could be tak­en up with the federal government for timely solution.

He also directed the quarter con­cerned to settle the issue of alternate land acquisition for Hattar Econom­ic Zone project as well and expedite work on the proposed Mohmand and Buner Economic Zones projects.

Addressing the participants of the meeting Mahmood Khan termed the Rashakai Economic Zone Project as a development initiative of national im­portance and said that it was one of the top priorities of both the federal and provincial governments to trans­late the project into reality.