Not in the pink of health

The issue arising from the termination of Zecon Bhd as the turnkey contractor for the construction of Hospital Petra Jaya in Kuching Sarawak is whether it was the best one for the job when the contract was awarded some five years ago.

When Zecon bagged the construction of the RM495mil hospital in April 2013, it came as a surprise as the company was not altogether in the pink of “financial” health.

The Sarawak-based engineering and construction firm had posted losses in FY13 and subsequently for the next two years before turning around in FY16.

This should have served as a red flag on whether the company, widely seen as being politically linked, has the ability to get the work done.

Zecon first announced it would be appointed to build the hospital by the Finance Ministry by way of direct negotiation on a “design and build” basis in 2011.

To recap, Zecon was supposed to build the hospital in 42 months to reduce congestion at Sarawak’s General Hospital.

But last month, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad announced that the Cabinet had in principle agreed to terminate the contract due to unacceptable work delays.

He was also quoted as saying that the hospital in Kuching was supposed to be completed on Nov 29, 2016, but as of June this year, only 34.54% of the project was completed.

Zecon received a notice of termination from the Public Works Department for the construction of the hospital on Thursday.

The company said it will be seeking legal redress including initiating an action to challenge the termination through the courts.