KARACHI – PPP leader Agha Javed Pathan, who became famous after hitting former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim with a shoe, is annoyed with his party’s top leaders for delaying the opening of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical College (SBBMC) in Lyari.
“The ongoing fight among PPP leaders over the appointment of their favourite principal is delaying the opening of this important medical college,” said Pathan, adding that he was recently appointed as public relation officer of the college.
The SBBMC was formally launched by President Asif Ali Zardari in 2009 and it was supposed to become functional last year but this has not happened despite the passage of a year.
The college was described as a “gift for Lyariites” by President Zardari in recognition of their great sacrifices for the restoration of democracy in the country and their decades-long struggle against dictators to propel the PPP in power.
The establishment of the college was supposed to be completed on a top priority basis as the infrastructure required for a medical college was available within the Lyari General Hospital.
Since the project was supported by the president, arrangements were made swiftly to accommodate the first batch of students in the Ayaz Sammo Nursing School, which was established in the vicinity of LGH in 1989 and inaugurated by the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Pathan demanded that the PPP leaders should act serious over the issue and open the university as soon as possible.
