A SARAWAK Pakatan Harapan assemblyman has claimed that the state government pumped millions of ringgit to bail out the “sick” Petra Jaya hospital project.

Pending rep Violet Yong, at the state assembly today, said the Sarawak government’s RM155 million purchase of 49% equity shares in Zecon Medicare Sdn Bhd, a unit of Zecon Bhd that had secured the contract, amounted to bailing out the project, which has been scrapped by the Health Ministry.

The hospital was supposed to be completed on November 29, 2016, but the date was postponed twice, to June 30 this year.

Yong said the first payment of RM31 million was made last December, and a balance of RM108.5 million was paid at the end of April, which was only “a week before the 14th general election”.

“I believe the Sarawak government is fully aware that the Petra Jaya project has been long overdue for completion, and yet, the state finance secretary decided to go ahead and pump in RM155 million to purchase Zecon Medicare shares.”

She said at the time, the project was only 33% completed.

She claimed that the state government is well aware of the reasons for the postponements.

Yong said despite the many problems plaguing the project, the state government proceeded with the bailout, and that the decision “created many doubts in the minds of Sarawakians”.

She is demanding “a full explanation” on whether any due diligence exercise or risk management study was carried out before the decision was made to buy the Zecon Medicare shares, and why the state government went ahead with the purchase “knowing well that the project has already been long delayed and has many unresolved problems”.

“What are the justifications for making the move to invest in Zecon Medicare? Why are Zecon Bhd and Zecon Medicare so special, that the state government was willing to dump in RM155 million to salvage the deal?”

She questioned who would be held responsible for “the loss of RM155 million in taxpayers’ money”, given that the federal government has terminated the hospital contract.

She is also seeking answers as to why the RM108.5 million balance was paid in a lump sum right before GE14.

She urged the state government to practise “true transparency on the whole matter, and not sweep it under the carpet”. – July 12, 2018.