Slow upgrade in need of booster shot

The new Seberang Jaya Hospital building under construction.

THE delay in the completion of the RM368mil upgrading project of Seberang Jaya Hospital has not gone down well with Penang Health Committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin.

He said the project, which had already been delayed once before, was now expected to be ready only by the end of 2021.

He said the tender for 15 out of the 19 specialised jobs had not been awarded yet.

It is learnt that the main contractors were allowed to choose their respective subcontractors but the system was changed midway to an open tender system after Pakatan Harapan took over the Government in May last year in order to ensure transparency.

“I will bring up the issue to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to speed up the project,” he told reporters after a visit to the site.

Also present at the site was hospital director Dr Saiful Azlan Sharif.

The hospital is known to be packed with patients and upon completion of the project, its bed capacity will double to 630.

A multi-storey car park complex will also be built.