Loretta briefs Harden (second left) and his delegation.
KUCHING (July 21): The new Sri Aman Hospital project has now reached 93 per cent completion stage.
In a statement issued yesterday, Assistant Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Datuk Francis Harden Hollis said the project, called Sri Aman Hospital II, was now at the installation of equipment stage, testing of specialist equipment and functional capacity of the power supply and wiring.
Harden, who is also Simanggang assemblyman, said the main contractor had reiterated a commitment to complete the physical structure and fitting of equipment by end of October.
“The 108-bed hospital which is equipped with specialist medical facilities, will be a landmark of sorts for Simanggang,” he said in the statement after making a site visit recently to check on the work progress.
Harden and delegation were brought to visit the X-ray room where the fitting and testing of equipment would be made by a specialist technician soon.
Public Works Department (JKR) senior engineer Loretta Nihol briefed Harden and delegation during the site visit.
“We follow closely the progress of construction of the hospital because of its significance. Not too long ago, many issues were raised by the opposition regarding the slow progress of the hospital’s construction.
The project, costing almost RM200 million, consists of two phases. The first phase involved clearing and piling work at a cost of RM12 million, while the second phase involves construction of the building at a cost of RM180 million.
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak approved the project in 2007 and the first phase of clearing and piling work on the 51-acre site was completed in August 2013 while the construction only started in 2016.
According to previous press reports, the new hospital was scheduled to be operational by June next year.