PESHAWAR, Jan 8: The construction work on a 300-bed hospital in Peshawar has been suspended due to non-availability of funds, officials said.

They said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who had earlier pledged to finance the healthcare project, has now backed out of its commitment, while other government organisations had yet to fulfil their commitments.

An official who is dealing with the ongoing project, told Dawn on Friday that UN agency had committed to provide Rs66 million for the under-construction hospital in the city.

"The UN agency has backed out from its commitment," the official said. He said that other departments such as Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) and the City District government had also failed to release funds, therefore the agency had stopped construction work for the last three weeks.

UNHCR spokesman Jack Redden, when approached, denied that the UN body had made any such commitment.

"No body in the UNHCR has heard about the provision of funds for the hospital", the spokesman said.

The City Development and Municipal Department (CDMD) with the financial assistance of the various organizations had launched the construction of a hospital in the now abandoned Roadways House building in 2003.

Officials said that the hospital was meant to cater to needs of the Afghan refugees and to minimise burden on other healthcare outlets in the city, which still sheltered more than half million Afghan population.

Initially, the government had planned to establish about 120- bed hospital in the building. After getting commitments the CDMD extended its capacity from 120 to 300 beds.

Officials said that the provincial government share in the project was Rs70 million, City District government's Rs48 million, CAR's Rs20 million and the UNHCR had promised to provide Rs66 million for the project.

They said so far the district government had released only Rs6 million, provincial government Rs30 million and CAR had provided Rs10 million.

An official source said that the Commissionerate had renewed its commitment and would release the remaining amount for the project soon.

According to official estimates the NWFP Health Department spent more than Rs340 million on the health care of the refugees in four tertiary hospitals of the city. About 30 per cent of the Afghan refugees visited the city hospitals, for which they get no aid from any donor organization.

In addition to this Rs94.109 million was spent in 14, out of 23 districts, which stood at 33.72 per cent of the total hospital sector budget of the province.

Previous figures show that the Hayatabad Medical Complex and the Lady Reading Hospital, the two major health care centres of the provincial metropolis, receive 48 per cent and 53 per cent of Afghan refugee patients.

Naib Nazim of the City District government Dr Iqbal Khalil said that a summary had been forwarded to the chief secretary, seeking release of funds for the project.