LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said the country needed to think beyond personal interests for its development and prosperity.
Addressing a ceremony in Lahore, Sharif alleged the government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) delayed welfare projects which he said was against national interest.
During his one-day tour of Lahore, he inaugurated the Saleem Memorial (Trust) Hospital in the provincial capital.
The six-storey, 350-bed hospital is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art treatment facilities. It will provide medical treatment facilities to the poor and needy.
He was briefed by the hospital’s management about the facilities available at the hospital, including treatment facilities for cancer, heart diseases, dialysis and CT scan. Earlier, Trust chairman Shehzad Saleem gave an overview of the project.
The prime minister visited different sections of the hospital and was briefed about the provision of treatment facilities including oncology, cardiology and OPD.
During his address, Sharif stressed that national interests should be given priority while executing the public welfare projects including hospitals to serve the masses.
The prime minister praised the owners of the Trust and expressed the hope that the hospital would serve the ailing humanity with world-class treatment facilities.
He said the managers of the Trust would not only earn the prayers of the patients but also earn blessings in the world hereafter.
The prime minister expressed the confidence that the experienced hands in the hospital would run the facility efficiently.
The prime minister said they had set up Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Centre in Lahore on this model to serve the people with the latest treatment facilities and wanted it to function like The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Hepatitis filter centres across Punjab were set up under its patronage and patients from all over the country came for treatment, he added.
The PML-N government was changed and what happened during the last four years was a painful story, he said, adding that the national wealth belonged to the people.
The prime minister referring to the economic constraints said that the government was hardly meeting its expenses.
He said 1122 was an initiative of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi but he had expanded it throughout the province.
The prime minister urged the philanthropists to come forward and execute such public welfare projects across the country.
