Hundreds of contract workers who were involved in the construction of the controversial RM482 million Shah Alam general hospital are up in arms over unpaid salaries, and a banner put up in front of the site presses home their concerns.

NONE The banner, calls for immediate settlement of their pay.

The workers, who have since quit the worksite, are also threatening to bring the matter to court or to their respective embassies, if the matter is not resolved promptly.

Elvin Toh, chief executive officer of GM Healthcare Sdn Bhd who is the main subcontractor admitted that the workers have not been paid for three months.

"We could not pay the workers after Sunshine Fleet, the main contractor for the new hospital and ... owned by Tengku Putri Arafiah Sultan Abd Aziz Shah, obtained an injunction from the High Court to stop Bank Rakyat from releasing payment (to us)," said Toh.

He said hundreds of workers are experiencing financial difficulties because of this, and that all the 850 workers hired at the beginning of the construction project have gradually quit until none are left at present.

"I am not sure how many workers are not paid, since the number of workers placed under 63 different sub-contractors have been reducing gradually due to the problem," he said.

Legal tussle the cause

He added that GM Healthcare will be asking Public Works Department (PWD) to directly intervene and settle the workers' wages.

Lee Swee Seng High Court Judicial Commissioner Lee Swee Seng ( left ) on July 20 granted Sunshine Fleet's application for an interim injunction to stop the bank from releasing payment to GM Healthcare pending the disposal of a suit filed by Sunshine Fleet against the latter and Bank Rakyat.

The company, owned by the Selangor sultan's sister filed the suit against GM Healthcare and the bank, claiming that the bank should pay the balance of the project money which was deposited by PWD for repayment of the project loan, to Sunshine Fleet after deducting the balance.

The troubled project was earlier reported to expect further delays due to the acrimonious fallout between Sunshine Fleet and GM Healthcare.