 Oct 17: The Works ministry has snubbed objections from the Finance and Health ministries by appointing Gadang Holdings Bhd to take over the much-delayed Shah Alam Hospital project, according to a report.
Online news portal Merdeka Review reported that Gadang Holdings on October 10 announced at Bursa Malaysia that its subsidiary Gadang Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd had been awarded the project with a 24-month contract worth RM410.87 million.
“When the tendering period ended in December 2010, the Works ministry proposed Gadang Holdings to the Finance Ministry. But, Finance issued an instruction on March 22, 2011 to Works saying the appointment of Gadang as Shah Alam Hospital's contractor had been rejected, and instead proposed Frontier Structure Sdn Bhd, which was qualified to be listed in the re-tendering list,” said the report.
As a result, the cost of the project escalated by more than RM74.91 million from the original RM556.51 million, which means it can be only approved by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).
According to the report, the Health ministry delayed the approval requested by the Works ministry, but the latter defied the Finance ministry and announced Gadang Holdings as the project's contractor.
"Even the Prime Minister’s Department did not know about the decision,” the report said, adding that Gadang’s appointment would not solve the woes which befell the project due to its lack of experience and technical expertise.
The construction of the 300-bed hospital, originally scheduled for completion this year, had been saddled with delays due to contract termination of its previous contractor GM Healthcare Sdn Bhd (GMH), a sub-contractor for project contractor Sunshine Fleet Sdn Bhd, citing failure to carry out duties on schedule. |
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