GEORGE TOWN: The Health Ministry says the delay in the completion of Penang Hospital’s new operation theatres is due to the incompetence of the contractor and consultant.
Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said they would be given one last chance to deliver the project before the end of the year.
“According to the schedule, they should have completed 87 per cent of the project. However, they have only done 84 per cent,” he said.
“In fact, according to the original schedule, they should have completed it by Feb 16 before the deadline was extended.
The RM15 million project was launched on Feb 17, 2016.
“The main reason we found is both the contractor and consultant are incompetent.
“But, we are giving them a chance, as per a suggestion from the state Health Department to complete the project by October.
“The project was launched for 10 theatres, but, at the moment, we are looking at completing four of them.”
Dzulkefly said the operation threatres of Penang Hospital and Kepala Batas Hospital would stay open until 6pm on Saturdays to clear the resulting backlog.
“The ministry has allocated RM1.17 million for the additional expenses due to the extension,” he added.
Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry would get to the bottom of a sexual harassment case involving the head of the orthopaedic department of a Klang Valley hospital.
He said an independent body comprising representatives of the Health Ministry, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and other government agencies had been set up to investigate the case.
Recently, an English daily newspaper reported that the department head had targeted female housemen as he had the authority to fail them.