Contractor to answer for faulty Serdang Hospital

Acting to save the Serdang Hospital from further incidents of collapsing ceilings, the government today fingered the contractor for the incidents and said it would consider suing for compensation.

Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam told Bernama that the ministry had allocated RM30 million for repair and maintenance work at the hospital, which has seen at least seven incidents of ceiling slabs caving in since 2011. The hospital opened in December 2005.

"The ministry does not blackout these issues. The contractor is responsible for the building. We will take the necessary action... whether they are liable or not, depends on the report we receive from the Public Works Department," Subramaniam (left) is quoted saying.

He said the ministry was keeping a close watch on the hospital and its ceilings were being inspected on a daily basis to detect "danger elements" and rectify them immediately.

"We have identified two major issues, namely support for the ceilings and the condensation issue due to the air-conditioning system. We have begun work to strengthen some of the areas and are trying to prevent condensation," he added.

However, the minister stopped short of naming the hospital's contractor, which DAP's Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching has demanded. 

Teo has alsopressed for the health minister to resign if he was unable to guarantee that there would be no more roof collapses.

The former MP for Serdang, who had her first child delivered at the hospital, said it was shameful that the RM690 million hospital was allowed to threaten the lives of patients and medical staff for such a long period.

On Sept 20 this year, portions of the ceiling at the hospital's maternity ward gave way and on Nov 14, parts of the ceiling at the paediatric intensive care unit collapsed. 

On Jan 30, 2011, a ceiling collapsed at the hospital's main lobby while on Aug 13 last year, three nurses and a woman doctor were injured when 15 ceiling pieces collapsed at the hospital's emergency department.