KAMPAR: Construction of a new district hospital will start as soon as matters involving land ownership have been settled, says Perak health committee chairman A. Sivanesan.
He said the state was still trying to reacquire the land from landowners involved and hoped that these could be resolved soon.
"We are working on it. Very soon, it can be settled.
"The good thing here is, which can be settled fast, as they (land owners) have not built any structures on the land," he said during a visit to the proposed location for the hospital project near Kampung Changkat Baru here on Monday (Oct 2).
"The land was given by the state government for resettlement purposes.
"Under Section 4 of the National Land Code, they can be given another site of equal value," he said, adding that there were still 12 landowners left to settle the matter.
"We will push it as fast as possible.
"Federal Government is concerned about the payment for the land, which will be handled by the state government," he added.
Sivanesan said funding for the new hospital project has already been approved under the 2020 Budget by then finance minister Lim Guan Eng in 2019.
"The money is still there. We have land. We can just proceed with it," he said, adding that the new hospital would be built on an 11.7ha piece of land.
Sivanesan said the proposed site near Kampung Changkat Baru was suitable as it was located centrally between the three state constituencies, Tualang Sekah, Malim Nawar and Keranji.
"The terrain is flat. It is also near Gopeng, which has no hospitals, while folk from Batu Gajah can also come here.
"We have had proposals for several other locations but this is the best," he added.
