Battle for parking space

Busy roads: A view of the parking problem in the vicinity of the Penang Hospital along Jalan Tull (left) and Jalan Utama.

TEMPERS flared at the Penang Hospital when visitors and patients could not find parking space for their cars due to a shortage of parking lots.

Retiree K. Jeyabalan, 62, who was at the hospital for his medical checkup, was enraged when he could not find a proper place for his car during peak hours at the hospital yesterday.

“It was a total commotion at the hospital car park. I was stuck there for one hour before finally deciding I had no choice but to park illegally near the prison, some 500m from the hospital.

“The hospital was crowded and everyone was parking illegally,” he said.

Patient Azhar Shariff Mohamed, 45, said he and his wife were stuck at the parking lot after his appointment with the doctor as their car was blocked by another vehicle which had been parked illegally.

“The hospital paged the car owner for us. We came at 8am this morning but the car parks were already fully occupied.

“We had to wait about 30 minutes before we were able to find a lot near to the hospital’s entrance,” he said.

When contacted, Penang Hospital Visitors Board chairman Lim Thoon Deong admitted that the lack of parking had been a problem for many years not only in Penang, but in all government hospitals around the country.

“We have 1,600 parking lots within the hospital compound which cater to our staff and the public.

“We receive about 800 to 900 outpatients per day excluding visitors and staff, and nearly 3,000 cars moving in and out of the area daily.

“It will never be enough,” he said.

He added that he had put forward a suggestion some three years ago to the then Penang Municipal Council to consider building an underground car park under the Polo Ground but there had been no response.

“We will not be able to build a new car park at the present moment due to other priorities.

“There are plans to set up another extension of the hospital but it did not materialise because of the funding, so hopefully in the coming 11th Malaysia Plan they may consider it,” he said.

The congestion, he said, was compounded when working people park their cars at the hospital’s parking lots and car pool to work.

“They should be more considerate and think about the welfare of the patients and visitors to the hospital,” he said.