SIMANGGANG (Sarawak), Aug 21 — Completion of the RM180.8 million Sri Aman Hospital, which was scheduled to be operational by June next year, will be further delayed for at least another six more months due to several unavoidable circumstances, said Deputy Health Minister II Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang today.
He said work on the hospital was now 83 percent completed, and work on the project was delayed due to, among the others, the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in construction work to be at a standstill for four months and the return of the 500 foreign workers, who are from China and Indonesia, back to their respective countries.
“Now the contractor has to depend entirely on the local workforce, which is not easy to get. They called for 290 local workers, but only 82 came to work,” he told reporters after visiting the site today.
However, he said, the contractor had assured him that the project would be completed by February next year.
Work on the hospital, to be equipped with 1,310 rooms and 108 beds, started in 2016. It has the potential to become a leading health facility for residents in the surrounding areas, including Lubok Antu, Simunjan, and Betong.
The project had been approved in 2007 and the first phase of clearing and piling work on the 20.6-hectare site was completed in August 2013.
Sources: BERNAMA