Construction of the Pakistan Medical Centre will be complete by the end of October.

The construction of the Pakistan Medical Centre (PMC) is 95 per cent over and will most probably be inaugurated by the end of the year. It will be complete by the end of this month.

Talking to Gulf Today on Friday evening, Dr Faisal Ikram, president of PAD, said the shortfall of funds for the remaining part of the construction will be bridged as many community members have pledged to support.

On Friday, over 300 community members of Pakistani Diaspora attended the ‘Own A Brick’ evening at Pakistan Association Dubai. The evening saw the performance of Anwar Maqsood, a prominent Pakistani playwright, and ambassador of the association. He became an ambassador two years ago and through his witty performances he motivated the community to ‘Own A Brick’ (each brick is worth Dhs1,000), become a lifetime member of the association (for 10 years) and help in the construction of the ‘world largest community centre for overseas Pakistanis’.

The evening with Maqsood was successful as many community members pledged to own scores of bricks and help the association achieve the target of 2,000 bricks (Dhs2 million) in record time.

“We have been organising a number of events like hosting Anwar Maqsood to motivate the community members to ‘Own A Brick’ and support the medical centre. After its completion it will serve the needy people from all communities residing in the country,” he said.

He further added that the PMC has a unique status as it is being finished with the support of the overseas community members and the only such facility in the world built by expatriates.

The PMC will have a number of medical facilities including specialist doctors, testing facilities of different kinds including X-ray and other examinations for all communities. The centre which is now in the final phase will have a mosque, offices, theme restaurant, parking and various such facilities to serve the Pakistani community.

About the Pakistan Medical Centre, Dr Ikram said, "With the generous support of different segments of the community we have been completing the construction of the 'world's largest community centre for overseas Pakistanis'. We are expecting to take control of the newly constructed PMC by the end of this month and to further complete the licensing and other procedures we are hopefully formally inaugurating this by the end of this year,” Dr Ikram said.

The foundation stone for the PMC was laid on Aug.14, 2016 at a total cost of Dhs17 million.

It is also mentioned that the medical wing of the Association has been regularly organising monthly free medical camps besides holding free sessions in different labour camps around Dubai on various occasions to provide medical facilities to deserving segments of the society.

The Pakistan Medical Wing at PAD during the free medical camp, held since 2009, has received more than 26,000 patients.

Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD) has become the first welfare association in the UAE to join hands with Hope Academy — a community initiative to support students who cannot continue their studies because of financial constraints.

Dedicated to the UAE’s Year Of Tolerance, Coded Minds, a Dubai-based global iSTEAM and leadership education company, has started a community initiative to support students who cannot continue their studies because of financial constraints.

“We are grateful to PAD for supporting Hope Academy. We received hundreds of applications only from Pakistani families who have not been able to send their kids to school because of financial difficulties. We are confident that with the assistance of PAD, we will be able to cater for thousands of Pakistani students,” says Omar Farooqui, founder and the president of Coded Minds.

Farooqui shared that just in over 10 days, thousands of students from different nationalities and communities have applied. “A large number of children are missing out on schools because of the family’s financial difficulties and their parents’ inability to afford school fees. We believe that such an inability should not prevent any child from getting an education. This will be an alternative solution where we will undertake all efforts possible to ensure that each child is compensated for missing the cycle of education,” he said.