Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday inaugurated the Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayad Al-Nayhan Hospital in Rawlakot, financed by United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the earthquake affected people. "This hospital, besides being a symbol of hope and new life for the people of Rawlakot and other earthquake affected areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, epitomises the time tested friendship between the brotherly peoples and governments of Pakistan and the UAE," the PM said at the inauguration ceremony.
The Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nayhan Hospital, a 250-bed institution that will serve a population of 500,000, is one of many projects funded by the UAE, not only in the earthquake-affected areas but across Pakistan also. Prime Minister Gilani said the UAE had also surfaced as a philanthropist state, a reputation well earned in light of its assistance to third world countries. He acknowledged that the generous support and help extended by the friends of the UAE, as usual being in the forefront, which he said would alleviate the suffering and hardships of the hapless victims of the October 2005 earthquake.