Why did the government issue a Certificate of Practical Completion (CPC) to contractors of the brand new RM500 million Temerloh Hospital in Pahang knowing there was still crucial work to be done?

This was the question DAP deputy chairperson Dr Tan Seng Giaw raised in a meeting held today at the hospital with the contractor and government representatives.

"I will have to discuss this with the MP from the area, Mohd Sarit Yusoh, Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek and I will keep persisting Works Minister S Samy Vellu to do something about the situation," he said.

Tan, who is also Kepong MP, visited the hospital after receiving complaints from the public. He was accompanied by DAP assistant treasurer Ong Chee Keng and the party's Temerloh branch members.

He met with the hospital's turnkey contractor Projek Hospital Temerloh Sendirian Berhad (PHTSB), a Public Works Department representative KL Tan and the hospital's pro-tem director Dr Bahari Che Awang.

However, media representatives were barred from the 45-minute-long meeting.

Items 'overlooked'

When met later, Tan said they discussed issues he raised regarding the absence of necessary equipment at the hospital and its structural shortcomings.

"The contractors said they had overlooked some of the items raised, such as the absence of a Residual Current Devise (RCD), which is an important item - especially to heart patients - as it removes electrical leakage.

"But I could not hit-out hard at the (PHTSB) reps today as they were not the decision-makers of the company and its stakeholders," said Tan.

The DAP leader earlier accused PHTSB - a consortium of Syarikat Permodalan Kebangsaan, Mokhtar Mohamad Nazir Bina and Aspirasi Sama, - of performing a 'slipshod job, which could mean they pocketed some of the money'.

However, he said the representatives today were not high-up enough in the scheme of things to be the ones possible of the alleged corrupt practices.

PHTSB representatives declined to comment on what had transpired during the meeting.

According to Tan, the contractors said they were already working on the shortcomings and promised to purchase and immediately install the RCD.

He further urged the works minister to demand a full list of outstanding work on the hospital, which is a replacement for a nearby attrited hospital in Mentakab, from the contractors and to address the irregularities immediately.

Details of CPC

Tan earlier revealed details of the said CPC signed on Feb 31 this year by the government's project director.

The details of the document, quoted in Tan's separate press statement, are : " In accordance with clause 40 of the Condition of Contract and subject to the completion of outstanding work and the making good of any defects, imperfections, shrinkages or any other faults whatsoever (as listed in Appendix A) as required under cause 46 of the Condition of Contract and which may appear during the Defects Liability Period, it is hereby certified that the whole of the Works as mentioned above were satisfactorily competed on 14th January 2005 and taken into possession on 15th January 2005 and that the said Defects Labiality Period in respect of the said Works began on 15th January 2005 and will end on 14th January 2007 ".

"If this is the case, we might as well do away with the CPC," exclaimed the DAP leader.

The hospital's pro-tem director Bahari, when met, said the 498-bed hospital is due to be fully operational sometime during the first week of April.

Bahari - who also declined comment on the meeting and the defects - added that the hospital is a centre for secondary level of care and will cater for 11 medical disciplines with specialists at hand and some visiting doctors from Kuantan hospital some 100km away.

The delegation was later given a tour of the nine-level government hospital located on a 44-acre site which includes apartment blocks serving as quarters for its 340 staff. It also has a helipad.