Expedite Lawas Hospital construction, federal govt urged

LAWAS: The long-delayed construction of Lawas Hospital needs to be expedited as it concerns the welfare of the people, says Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.

He said elected representatives from Sarawak, including himself, have been pushing for the federal government – starting from the previous administration – for the much-needed project to be accorded top priority.

“I had personally written a few times to the previous prime minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak), while Lawas MP (Datuk Henry Sum Agong) has without fail brought the matter up in Parliament,” he said in his speech at the earth-breaking ceremony of Lawas Tamu project and phase two of the Lawas Waterfront project here on Monday.

Awang Tengah said the matter is beyond politics and the Sarawak government had given its full support to the hospital project.

“We allocated a land in Banting, then later at Jalan Trusan and lastly expanded the old site as requested by the federal government, and also followed up on all their previous processes including the latest Finance Ministry valuation of the project after the tender price exceeded estimated cost,” he pointed out.

On a separate matter, Awang Tengah said the Sarawak government will be rolling out a house repair programme by the end of this year, as a continuation to a similar programme by the previous federal government, following demand from the ground.