PRIVATE HOSPITAL IN FRONT OF QE II?

WORK…. Private Hospital site work commenced in front of QE II.

A QUESTION raised by the Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament on the 26th of October on whether the Ministry of Health agreed to the building of a new private hospital in front of the government hospital QE II in Luyang, Kota Kinabalu.

The Minister of Health, Dato’ Liow Tiong Lai replied according to the record of the Ministry of Health (KKM) on the 31st of May 2010, the ministry has issued a letter saying that the Ministry has no objection on the construction of a new private hospital in front of the existing QE II in Lorong Bersatu, off Jalan Damai, Luyang, Kota Kinabalu.

The applicant of the proposed private hospital will have to furnish the necessary supporting documents for the application including the drawings and plan for processing within 6 months from date of the letter of consent issued by the ministry. If failed to do the same, the application shall be treated as cancelled and will not be considered again.

On the part of the Ministry (KKM), it also provides guide lines on the procedure for the application and on the ruling for approval to be made on private hospitals with the letter stating that there is no objection at this juncture. Anyway until 21st of October 2010, KKM still have not received the application from the intended applicant.

Dr. Hiew received many views from the general public on whether a private hospital is suitable to be built in front of the present QE II hospital. The fact is that there are many objections received, mostly because that the Lorong Bersatu and the Jalan Damai serving the QE II Hospital will not be able to serve the heavy traffic volume, and there will be congestion every day.

There is no more space for widening of the roads and many car parking spaces are required to cater for the ever increasing traffic volume. This is especially so when the floors in QE II are fully occupied and opened. It is a big headache now to park your cars. Just imaging when a new private hospital is approved and built there, what will the traffic jam be like, and if there is no road improvement and flyover be built? Can the government provide all this multi-million ringgit improvement just because of the private hospital?

The people also think that it is not logical to have a private hospital to be built there just next to the government hospital. There will be much confusion and why not build the private hospital far away on to some area like Menggatal, Kapayan or even in Telipok where there is less traffic congestion problem and the patient can enjoy peace and quiet.

Furthermore, the new private hospital can bring some activities to these areas. Definitely the further away the private hospital from the City centre will be the best solution. There are plenty of suitable lands for the building of a private hospital, and the KKM should suggest the applicant to seek other land for the purpose.

The land in front the QE II in Damai should be used as the QE II car park facilities or its future extension program for the QE II. The government should acquire the said land for the sole use of the public hospital and for the public interest now and in the future.

When inspect by Hiew and Edward Mujie today, the construction activity on site has started, and DBKK has granted approval on the building of the private hospital. The question is whether KKM has given the final approval to operate the private hospital is yet unknown.