Health White Paper: All proposals by Sarawak govt to be taken into account - Lukanisman

Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni said the proposal, included the state government's demand to have autonomy in health aspects.

"The autonomous power is not to take over the entire health system but to improve the system," he told reporters after inspecting the Petra Jaya Hospital project here today.

During his recent meeting with Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, he said he had also explained that this autonomous power allowed the state government to determine the type of project to be implemented and the amount to be spent on the project.

"Currently, the planning (of health projects) is centralised (at the federal level) and this proposal will be refined by the federal and state leadership," he said.

On the development of the Petra Jaya Hospital construction project, Lukanisman said the project, which was taken over by a rescue company, was 25.78 per cent complete as of Dec 31.

"This is a positive development as the project is about a month ahead of schedule," he said.

According to him, the selected contractor is responsible and will expedite the construction work in the coming months, especially in the installation of electrical equipment.

He said the hospital project, which is expected to be fully completed by Nov 25 next year and to be fully operational as early as 2025.

The construction of Petra Jaya Hospital, which started on May 30, 2013, is deemed a sick project in Sarawak, as it was not completed within the five-year period stipulated in the original contract after the previously appointed contractor, had many problems in completing it.