As the union government did not provide the budget, the contractor did not get payment of more than 1.5 million last year
The hospital under construction in Nisikhola Rural Municipality is stuck due to lack of budget. The contractor who is building a hospital near the border of Ward No. 3 and 4 has stopped the work saying that he has not received payment.
After the local people provided the land, the municipality contracted the construction of the building four years ago. 'Himdung AC IS' joint construction company has taken the contract to build the building. The estimated cost of the hospital was Rs 10 crore 99 lakh and should have been completed by the end of December last year.
'From the outside, it looks like the hospital is finished, but we could not pay for the work done, the contractor has left the remaining work,' Surya Bahadur Gharti, chairman of the rural municipality, said, 'Until the budget is received, we cannot say when the work will be completed.'
Mayor Gharti says that if the hospital is not built, the common people will have to go far for health services. If the construction of the 10-bed hospital is completed, about 25,000 people will get services here. Locals say that it will be easier to treat the injured in accidents on Madhyapahari Lokmarg. The place where the hospital is being built is in the middle of the village.
The rural municipality has already built a concrete wall by the river by spending 20 lakh rupees so that the hospital building can be built last year. "The construction of the building started during the previous president's time, now the time has passed to complete and operate it, but the budget from the state has not come," he said, "We have instructed the contractor to complete the work as soon as the budget is managed."
After the rural municipality provided 9 ropani land, the union government released the budget for building construction. But the contractor has yet to receive payment of more than one and a half million for the work done last year. Chief Administrative Officer Jeevan Pun said that he is requesting the budget from the federal government. "However, it has not been cleared," he said.
Only 3 out of 7 wards of Nisikhola have health posts. Municipality Chairman Gharti says that after the construction of the hospital, it will be easier for everyone as health services are not available elsewhere. At present, if you go to the hospital, you have to go to the headquarters, which is 130 km away, or to Palpa, which is about 90 km away.
All the three health posts here are among the ones that test a lot of patients. Due to the lack of hospital, obstetric patients have faced the most problems.
The rural municipality aims to operate a hospital with at least one specialist doctor providing basic treatment and maternity services. "If we had skilled doctors, we could provide operation services," said Juni Gharti, the head of the health department, "a hospital is necessary here because of the geography and population."
According to Prem Gharti, the vice president of the municipality, a survey has already been done to build a trust bridge. He informed that the 23 meter long trust bridge has been mapped and sent to the state government for funds. "Once the building is completed, the goal is to build a trust bridge and put it into operation," he said, "Since the public road has been paved, patients from Valkot in Ward No. 6 will be able to come to the hospital within an hour."
