Auditor-General's Report: Sarawak International Medical Centre objective not achieved

KUCHING: The objective of building the Sarawak International Medical Centre (SIMC) by the state Government was not achieved, the latest Auditor-General's report says.

In its third and final report for this year, the A-G said the management of the controversial specialist medical centre at Kota Samarahan was also "unsatisfactory".

The A-G traced the project from its announcement from 1998, development cost of RM374.12mil approved in 2002, through its various delays and cost revisions.

"Delay in the completion of SIMC project caused the escalation of the cost to RM534.38mil," said the AG report released on Monday.

Audit observations also noted weakness in asset management and settlement agreements that did not protect the interests of the Sarawak Government.

Initially planned as an integrated specialties medical centre for research, public and private healthcare, the completed structure, left vacant for a number of years in the 2000s, was eventually turned into the cardiology wing of the Sarawak General Hospital in 2010.

In the A-G's report, it recommended the state Government review and reassesses the management and activities of Sarawak Specialist Hospital & Medical Centre Sdn Bhd, which is wholly owned by the State Financial Secretary Incorporated.

It said the state owned company had to "determine the direction of the company in order to get a return on investment".

"State Financial Secretary Incorporated through the state government should conduct negotiations with the Federal Government on the sale of SIMC to the Federal Government as soon as possible."

The AG also said action should be taken to identify medical and non-medical equipment that are not in use or obsolete at SIMC. It recommended registration numbers to be given to these assets to facilitate their identification and tracking.

The report said the audit was conducted between January and March 2015.

It said the original objective of SIMC was part of a long-term vision to make Sarawak a medical centre and higher education learning facility for Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and Kalimantan.