KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 – Health care for 20,000 over people living in and around in Tanjong Karang, a coastal town in Selangor, is expected to become a much more convenient service with the completion of the Tanjong Karang Hospital, which is set to be opened on October 10 this year.
The hospital, termed a minor specialist hospital, has been fully equipped with up-to-date medical facilities and is expected to provide, other than emergency and general medical services, general surgery, orthopedic, pediatric, and other specialist services.
Work on the hospital, which is located near the older hospital, was restarted in 2018 following a decade- old delay earlier and was expected to be completed in 2020 but there were further delays with a change in government and the Covid-19 pandemic before its final completion.
In a 2018 report in BERNAMA, the Member of Parliament for Tanjong Karang and Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Tan Sri Noh Omar said the delay in the RM269 million hospital project was due to technical details between the Works Department and contractors.
In the same report, the then Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad had said that the hospital was expected to be completed in November 2020.
At the official handover of the hospital in Tanjong Karang today, which was also attended by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Noh Omar, commended Khairy for having worked hard to see through the completion of the project despite the many problems the project faced.
He also said the hospital was a project born out of a promise made during a by-election and subsequent elections as well as a delineation exercise in between.
“Various areas were suggested for the hospital before Tanjung Karang was decided upon.” He also admitted that land was a major factor for the delay in the project. However, he also alleged that the previous Pakatan government had cancelled many projects in the area including the hospital project.
He also requested that the Klinik 1 Malaysia services be opened once again.
Khairy Jamaluddin in his speech at the event, said the Covid-19 pandemic had posed various challenges for the implementation of various infrastructure projects with delays brought on by factors like lack of labour.
He said the new hospital, as a minor specialist hospital will replace the existing hospital in Tanjong Karang, which is 56-years old and has no specialist clinics. However, the hospital’s buildings will be utilised for continued medical and health services.
The new hospital will also form part of a cluster of hospitals with Sungai Buloh hospital as the lead hospital.
He said more than 400 new staff will be deployed to the new hospital to strengthen services from the hospital.
He also promised that a CitiScan Radiology unit will be installed in the hospital.
He also said an announcement will be made soon on another hospital to be opened in an area in Selangor. He said it was a “secret” but would provide good news to the residents of the area.
Is it a hospital in Subang Jaya, YB?
–WE