Beirut - The UAE charity hand has reached out to South Lebanon to build the first-ever specialised hospital which is expected to serve over 35,000 villagers who have been deprived of basic infrastructure facilities because of Israeli occupation and wars over the recent decades.
The health facility is being executed as part of the UAE Project for Support and Reconstruction of Lebanon which was launched ten months ago. At a site near Sheba town at borders with the occupied Palestine, bulldozers and earth movers are reclaiming the ground for constructing the 'Khalifa bin Zayed Hospital'.
Director General of the UAE Project for Support and Reconstruction of Lebanon Mohammed Khalfan Al Rumaithi, said the hospital, the contract of which signed last month, is part of a series of infrastructure projects aimed at serving the underprivileged population in Lebanon. 'The southern Sheba-based Khalifa Hospital stands as a shining testimony for the resounding success achieved by the Project,' he affirmed.
Khalid Al Naqabi, architect supervising the construction of the hospital, said the grand health facility would be ready to receive patients within 10 months. 'Sprawling 12,500 square metre, the four-storey hospital will be fitted with necessary medical equipment to serve a number of villages in south Lebanon including Sheba, Hebaryia, Fardise, Rashiya Al Fakhar and Kafer Hamam,' he added. He maintained that the hospital stems out its high importance from the fact that these villages were poor of the humble infrastructure facilities like clinics, schools, clubs, plants and markets.
Abdullah Al Ghafli, the Project's Media Relations Officer, said that demographic and topographic factors had been well-studied in determining the location of the hospital. 'Services to be offered by the 40-bed health facility have been worked out in cooperation with the Lebanese Health Ministry, he noted.
On the Lebanese side, Omar Al Zuhairi, Chairman of Sheba Municipality, said :' The Lebanese people will always cherish Sheikh Khalifa's humanitarian initiative. Tens of thousands of south Lebanon villagers are praying for the soul of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan for his unstinted support for Lebanon. They also pay tribute to his successor Sheikh Khalifa for his unforgettable humanitarian stances. He maintained that 'The construction of the hospital comes in the opportune time and suitable place to offer easy access health services to villagers without taking the pain of travelling to the nearest hospital at around 70 kilometres away.