Sarawak to get two hospitals under 10th Malaysia Plan

KUCHING: Two hospitals, each costing RM300mil, will be built in Sarawak next year. Health Minis­ter Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the hospitals would be built in Petrajaya in Kuching and Limbang under the 10th Malaysia Plan.

The two hospitals would enhance Sarawak’s health facilities, he said yesterday after visiting a site for a temporary clinic at Nanga Kemalih, about three hours’ drive from Pakan in the Sarikei division.

He said the ministry would also upgrade rural clinics and increase the number of medical assistants and nurses in the state.

“For bigger hospitals like those in Lawas, Sarikei, Sibu and Kapit, the ministry will hire the relevant specialists.

“It is very important that we solve congestion, for instance, in Sibu, which often gets referred cases from Sarikei, Kapit, Mukah and Betong hosipitals.

“We will engage 58 specialists from Egypt, Pakistan and India next year. They are good doctors as we applied through their governments for them instead of through advertisements,” added Liow.

On the shortage of doctors, he said the country was now training about 3,500 doctors annually, from the previous 700.

Liow, accompanied by Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang, senior officers from the Health Ministry and state health department, had earlier visited the Sarikei and Betong hospitals.