KARACHI: The Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation (SIUT) has acquired Regent Plaza, a four-star hotel in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, to convert it into a health care facility to expand its free-of-cost services for patients, an SIUT trustee said on Sunday.
Founded by philanthropist and distinguished surgeon Dr. Syed Adibul Hasan Rizvi, SIUT stands as Pakistan’s foremost center for treatment of kidney-related diseases, providing free services such as dialysis and transplantation to patients who come from across the country.
Originally established as the urology department of Karachi’s Civil Hospital in 1970, SIUT attained autonomous status in 1991. The institute presently conducts up to 12 transplants weekly and achieved a milestone in 2003 by performing Pakistan’s inaugural liver transplant.
The Regent Plaza hotel occupies a prime location on the city’s main thoroughfare, Shahrah-e-Faisal, spanning an area of 13,200 square yards with a total covered area of 47,034 square yards. Last October, the hotel management informed investors of SIUT’s Rs14.5 billion offer to purchase it and on Saturday, the hotel’s face board was replaced with that of SUIT’s.
“With this new facility, we will add 1,000 beds to SIUT and this branch will offer all services,” Syed Shabbar Zaidi, an SIUT trustee, told Arab News on Sunday, emphasizing that acquiring a space on Shahrah-e-Faisal will provide easier access to patients.
The building, according to Regent Plaza official website, has 440 luxurious guest rooms, including presidential, executive and business suites, besides various other categories of rooms.
Asked about potential traffic snarl-ups due to the hotel’s conversion into a hospital, Zaidi said they would provide an alternate entrance to ensure a smooth flow of traffic on Shahrah-e-Faisal, a signal-free thoroughfare that connects the Karachi airport with the city’s main business hub and is frequented by hundreds of thousands of people daily.
“We will establish an entrance from another direction, eliminating any traffic disruptions,” he said.
The SIUT trustee emphasized that the hotel’s building was an ideal space and acquiring it would be highly beneficial for patients.
“With increased capacity, we will accommodate more patients while ensuring easily accessible facilities,” he added.
Pakistan’s free kidney hospital acquires four-star hotel in Karachi to expand services
https://arab.news/ymt9k
Pakistan’s free kidney hospital acquires four-star hotel in Karachi to expand services
- Trustee Shabbar Zaidi says SIUT will add 1,000 beds for patients after the acquisition of Regent Plaza hotel
- The building, a landmark located on the city’s main thoroughfare, will provide easy access to patients, he adds
Islamabad steps up vehicle checks to boost security as 166,000 cars get electronic tags
- Authorities say over 3,000 vehicles registered in past 24 hours as enforcement intensifies
- Extended service hours introduced to push full compliance with digital monitoring system
ISLAMABAD: Authorities in the Pakistani capital have intensified enforcement against vehicles without mandatory electronic tags with more than 166,000 cars now registered, according to data released on Sunday evening, as Islamabad moves to strengthen security and digital monitoring at key entry and exit points.
The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration introduced the electronic tagging system late last year as part of a broader effort to regulate traffic, improve record-keeping and enhance surveillance in a city that hosts the country’s main government institutions, foreign missions and diplomatic enclaves.
Under the system, vehicles are fitted with electronic tags that can be read automatically by scanners installed at checkpoints across the capital, allowing authorities to identify unregistered vehicles without manual inspections. Vehicles already equipped with a motorway tag, or m-tag, are exempt from the requirement.
“A total of 166,888 vehicles have successfully been issued M-Tags so far, including 3,130 vehicles in the last 24 hours,” the ICT administration said, according to the Excise Department.
Officials said readers installed at checkpoints across Islamabad are fully operational and are being used to stop vehicles still without tags, as enforcement teams carry out checks across the city.
To facilitate compliance, authorities have expanded installation facilities and extended operating hours. The Excise Department said m-tag installation is currently available at 17 booth locations, while select centers have begun operating beyond normal working hours.
According to Director General Excise Irfan Memon, m-tag centers at 26 Number Chungi and 18 Meel are providing services round the clock, while counters at Kachnar Park and F-9 Park remain open until midnight to accommodate motorists unable to visit during daytime hours.
Officials said the combination of enforcement and facilitation was aimed at achieving full compliance with minimal disruption, adding that operations would continue until all vehicles operating in the capital are brought into the system.
The enforcement drive builds on a wider push by the federal government to integrate traffic management, emergency response and security monitoring through technology-driven “safe city” initiatives. Last month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reviewed Islamabad’s surveillance infrastructure and said reforms in monitoring systems and the effective use of technology were the “need of the hour.”
Authorities have urged motorists to obtain electronic tags promptly to avoid delays and penalties at checkpoints as enforcement continues across the capital.
