The long awaited multi-layer carpark for SGH is a promise made 10 years ago and after a total of 5 elections later, both general election and state election combined, not even a single ground breaking ceremony been held until now. The said project has been used as an election’s candy year after year but until now all it has remain are promises.
In the parliament reply given to me, technically the project in principle has been approved by the ministry on 22nd November 2013. Even by today’s standard, for a promised made 10yrs ago and only to be approved in 2013 is a very long delay, what more to say until now the construction of the project is still nowhere to be seen.
The 351 millions project will be based on the ‘Public Private Partnership-BLMT’ model (PPP-BLMT), construction includes a Day-care center block (pusat rawatan harian), Pathology lab, blood bank, 2 carpark complex and a Medi hotel. Such price for the entire project is well over the bar if we were to compare it to the upcoming RM 130 million KPJ hospital in Kuching. The new 300-bed KPG Kuching hospital will have the latest medical services: orthopaedic and traumatology, cardiology and heart surgery, chemotherapy and radiation oncology including plastic surgery . The ministry need to come clean on how they came to a 351million conclusion and are accountable to the public on how the PPP-BLMT model works. For the model to works, fees will be charge for the usage of the carpark. At such a high project price it is almost certain that the fees would be double if not triple the rate of currently available private parking at the vicinity of SGH at a flat rate of RM5 (exclude GST) for the whole day.
The minister owe it to people of Sarawak for a promise which seems to take forever to be fulfilled. The deputy minister even agreed that of all the hospital he visited, SGH is one of the worse in terms of its overcapacity and over usage of its Emergency Room . The building of the multi-storey carpark should be the outmost priority and construction should begin immediately without having the burden of other extended units. Again why must the government get involve with the commercial aspect by building the 160 room medi hotel further more at such an exuberant price? They should leave such initiative to the private sector. At such the cost needed should be significantly less if we were to purely focus on just building the carpark.
If we were to base on the estimation given by MP of bandar Kuching before, the 1750 parking bays carpark should cost only at RM 30.6 million or at most 35 million if 15% to be allocated for contingency expenses. The estimation was based on quantity surveying and local council’s standard measurement. And again according to his estimation, if we were to base on Malaysia’s Construction Industrial Guideline, the costs of building the 160-room medi hotel at 3-star hotel equivalent is approximately RM 25.6 million. For a budget hotel, such cost can be even cheaper by at least 30% which is approximately 18 millions. Therefore, based on such argument, total cost for the 1750 bays carpark and a 160 rooms, 3-star hotel equivalent medi hotel will only amount to a mere 60.6 millions or lower if budget hotel equivalent were to be considered. That leaves the remaining 290.4 millions only for a Day-care center block (pusat rawatan harian), Pathology lab and blood bank. Such amount is way higher if compare to the new 130 milions, 300-bed modern KPG Kuching hospital!
Therefore at 35 million only for the carpark, there is no excuses at all for the government to further delay the project but instead should expedite the construction and provide free parking bar at SGH. At the end what are the real cause behind this decade old promise? Obviously it is the ridicules over inflated high price that allow the BN crony company to rip off the people of Sarawak