Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof – File photo
KUCHING: The green light given by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to upgrade Lawas Hospital has been welcomed by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) parliamentary chief whip Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
However, he pointed out that to depict the project, which the previous government had planned to implement after the 14th General Election (GE14), as one that is ‘sick’ and delayed is completely inaccurate.
“As emphasised by our Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan last March, this project cannot be categorised as a ‘sick project’ because the tender process, especially in regards to appointing qualified contractors have yet not been carried out.
“Furthermore, he said this project cannot be implemented because there are no implementors and as such, how can it be categorised as a ‘sick project’,” he said in a statement today.
He was commenting on Works Minister Baru Bian’s announcement yesterday that the Lawas Hospital project had been in a decline since 2015 with a long history involving the tender process starting with direct negotiations, limited tenders and various delays caused by several factors.
Baru said works to upgrade Lawas Hospital are scheduled to commence in February next year using the Design and Build method and is expected to be completed by August 2023.
Fadillah, who was formerly Works Minister, explained that the Lawas Hospital project was supposed to be in the tender stage before GE14 last year but its status was unknown after PH took over as the federal government.
“It was only made known that the PH government will continue the upgrading of the Lawas Hospital when Works Minister Baru Bian launched the construction project of the hospital yesterday (Dec 21).
“We are grateful that the project is ongoing but at the same time, we also hope that it will be completed as promised,” he said, adding that Sarawakians are hoping that all promises made by PH Sarawak under the GE14 Manifesto can be fulfilled immediately particularly the promise of providing 20 per cent oil royalty and 50 per cent tax revenues to be returned to Sarawak.
On the issue of dilapidated schools, Fadillah said the allocation provided by the previous government was far bigger compared to the budget allocated under the PH government.
“A total of RM1 billion was allocated by the then government for dilapidated schools in Sarawak compared to the RM783 million allocation for dilapidated schools throughout the country as announced by the PH government.”
He added that in addition, the Sarawak government was willing to pay an advance of RM350 million as part of the RM1 billion contra loan payment to the federal government to accelerate the implementation of construction and repairing of dilapidated schools in the state.
“As such, it is hope that the federal government will accelerate the projects of building and repairing dilapidated schools throughout Sarawak.”