THE RM210 million Tawau Hospital upgrading project will be completed by the end of this year, said Federal Deputy Works Minister Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup.
He said as of March 31, progress of the project which was scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2020 had reached 70 per cent.
“To ensure that the remaining work on the project could be completed on time, the contractor needs to achieve the work progress target set, which is about four per cent every month.
“The target is based on discussions with the contractor and also the monitoring measures taken by the Public Works Department (PWD) to ensure the progress of work is according to the set schedule.
“JKR closely monitors the mitigation plan and the progress of the contractor’s work and the performance of the contractor will also be evaluated according to the weekly work progress report that needs to be sent,” he told reporters after checking on the project in Tawau on April 20.
Arthur said PWD will also not hesitate to issue a warning to the contractor if there are delays.
“The hospital upgrading project started in 2017 and was scheduled to be completed in 2020 at a cost of about RM210 million. But the project was delayed due to the implementation of the Covid-19 Movement Control Orders (MCOs) as well as land structure problems, so PWD allowed Extension of Time (EOT) to the contractor to complete the project.
“The MCOs (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) had led to a chain of problems such as the lack of local and foreign workers as well as difficulties in obtaining building materials due to the closure of factories,” he said.
He added that currently, the contractor employed 80 per cent local workers, thus reducing reliance on foreign workers.
When the project is completed, Arthur said the upgrading will make Tawau Hospital the largest hospital in the East Coast of Sabah and a referral hospital for the surrounding districts.
He added that the new hospital building under the project will accommodate 154 beds, bringing the total number of beds at Tawau Hospital to 555, in addition to other facilities provided, including six operating rooms, four endoscopy suites, 30 haemodialysis units, as well as the first hospital helipad in Sabah.
He said that his Ministry would ensure that the project was completed on time as it was the Government’s intention to provide the best health facilities for Keluarga Malaysia (the Malaysian Family) so as to meet the people’s expectations.
