Khulna Cancer hospital project sees slow progress

Despite the scheduled completion date having lapsed, the Khulna 100-bed full-fledged Cancer Hospital project is still far from completion, with only 21% of the work done over the past two years.

According to the Public Works Department, the cancer hospital was supposed to be completed in June this year. Now, a proposal has been sent to the ministry to extend the project duration till December 2024, as the work has not been completed within the stipulated time.

The Development Project Proforma (DPP) cost was Tk 175.72 crore, and of these, Tk 82.36 crore was allocated for the construction of the 15-storey building with two basement floors.

Under the government's 'Establishment of 100-bed Full-fledged Cancer Centre in Government Medical College Hospital in Divisional City' project', there will be three—cancer, kidney and heart—units at the hospital.

Under the project, the 15-storey specialized hospital for the treatment of cancer, kidney, and heart patients will be established on 23,250.46 square feet of land behind the outdoor department of Khulna Medical College and Hospital.

The government signed an agreement with MBPL and SNBPL—two contractor firms, on October 31, 2021.

A cancer unit will be established from basement 2 to the 6th floor with a Linear Accelerator, CT Stimulator, Chemotherapy and Brachytherapy while a Kidney unit will be established on the 7th floor to 11th floor with a kidney dialysis unit, kidney transplant OT, post-transplant and ICU.

Meanwhile, the heart unit will be set up on the 11th floor to the 14th floor with CCU, ICU, Cardiac OT, and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and Cath lab.

Besides, a ramp, moving stairs, a lift for Covid-19, a Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP), a 300-KVA power substation, a 1000-KVA generator, a lift, and a firefighting system will be constructed under the project.

Sheikh Daud Haider, owner of the contractor firm SN Builders Private Limited, said the construction work was delayed due to various complexities, including land acquisition, but the construction work of the project is now in full swing.

Sheikh Golam Kuddus, project manager of the contractor firm, said the work of two basements has been completed, and now the work will end speedily," he said.

Amit Kumar Biswas, executive engineer of Public Works Department-1, said, "Already 21% work has been completed and currently the construction work of the building is going on in full swing."

In 2019, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved a project involving Tk 2,388.40 crore to set up a 100-bed full-fledged cancer centre in each government medical college hospital in every divisional city.

The Ecnec cleared a total of eight projects with an estimated cost of Tk8,968.08 crore.

Of the approved projects, five are new, and the remaining three are revised ones.

Then, the project tenure was set to run from October 2019 to September 2022.