Julian Tan
KUCHING (May 6): Democratic Action Party (DAP) member Julian Tan has told Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian not to blame the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government for the delayed Petra Jaya Hospital project.
“The PH government at the time did what Dr Sim’s party Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) failed to do and did not have the guts to do, that is to put a stop to sick projects that have cost Sarawakians hundreds of millions of ringgit,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Tan, who is Special Assistant to DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen, was responding to Dr Sim’s Facebook post on Tuesday in which the latter blamed the then PH government for the delay.
In the post, Dr Sim said had the PH government not cancelled the Petra Jaya Hospital project in 2018, it would have been completed by now and would have provided another 300 beds as well as all support facilities.
“Since its termination in 2018 by PH, and after open tenders x3 times, Petra Jaya Hospital will now cost more than RM600 million (original ~RM400 million),” said Dr Sim, who is Sarawak United People’s Party president.
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Tan said according to the written reply he received from parliament and some official statements, the Petra Jaya Hospital was initially scheduled for completion in November 2016 at the cost of RM378million.
He said it was then delayed further to June 2017, with the cost increasing to RM495million, but that as of June 2017, the project was only 48 per cent completed.
“The delay is only the tip of the iceberg.
According to the BN government benchmark in building a hospital, the 300-bed fully-equipped Petra Jaya Hospital should only cost around RM150 million.
“Even after factoring in inflation and cost increases, it should not be more than RM190 million. At RM495 million, we should be able to get two 300-bed well-equipped hospitals, not one, and even that with an extra of more than RM100 million to spare.
“We have more than enough to purchase state-of-the-art, latest medical equipment and facilities only money can buy,” he added.
Tan further said that DAP Sarawak had relentlessly raised up the concerns, especially when dealing with public health care issues in Sarawak, adding that it was all recorded in the Parliament Hansard and the media.
“My question to Dr Sim is, why the deafening silence from SUPP and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), BN government then, in raising the issue then?
“Clearly Sarawakians have been severely short-changed due to SUPP’s failure in protecting Sarawakians’ interest, even after 58 years governing Sarawak.”
Tan also suggested that Dr Sim heed his own advice to stop playing politics and instead do more via social media in educating and raising public awareness about the importance of vaccination to overcome vaccine hesitancy.
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