In an effort to ease congestion at Hospital Sultan Ismail (HSI), Johor health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said the hospital was currently identifying areas within the facility for parking bays.
“We understand that parking is a concern for the hospital.
“As such, we are looking into adding 70 more parking bays at HSI.
“On top of that, the state government is also mooting a plan to have Bus Muafakat Johor shuttle service for the public to get to the hospital to ease congestion,” he said.
Ling said this in response to Amira Aisya Abd Aziz (Muda-Puteri Wangsa), who asked about the state government’s plan to increase parking spaces in HSI.
He said he visited the hospital twice, including one unofficial visit, to check on the congestion and other issues faced by the hospital.
“The hospital will work closely with the concession company involved to improve road patching works at existing carparks.
“The state government will continue to improve healthcare facilities in Johor from time to time,” he added.
On a separate matter, Ling said the state government has stopped distributing Covid-19 test kits as the initiative was no longer relevant.
“The state has consulted with the Health Department and decided that the test kits distribution programme is no longer suitable or relevant at the moment.
“We are also discussing with the department to plan another initiative that is more suitable for the current situation and cost-effective,” he said, in response to Ng Yak Howe (PH-Bentayan), who questioned on the status of the test kits distribution programme.
He added that when the initiative was launched under Johor’s Budget 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic had not shown signs of slowing down.
“However, with the hard work of previous mentri besar Datuk Seri Hasni Mohamad, the Federal Government and the people of Johor, the situation has improved,” he said.