'Super Hospital' to cost RM8.2b?

KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Teknologi Mara's (UiTM) proposed "Super Hospital" project in Shah Alam may cost the government a whopping RM8.2 billion due to privatisation although the building cost is only RM599 million.
Alleging this in Parliament today, Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, who is also PKR vice-president, questioned if it is true that the project will eventually cost taxpayers RM8.2 billion.
"I want the relevant minister to respond to this. Is it true or not that the government will award the privatisation of the UiTM's hospital in Puncak Alam to an Umno-linked concessionaire?" he asked, when debating the 2016 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat.
Pressing the government to confirm the allegation, Rafizi said he had received information that the building cost is only RM599 million but through the contract, the government has to pay RM8.2 billion to the concessionaire.
Naming the Umno-linked millionaire in the Dewan, he recalled his expose last year about the same person who was awarded the build-and-rent concessions for UiTM campuses.
"The building cost is RM599 million but the government may end up paying the concessionaire RM8.2 billion. Whose money is it if not from our Goods and Service Tax (GST) money? This is the kind of practice that causes leakages and misappropriation of government funds," he said.
The project was first mooted in 2009 by the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin who said UiTM should have a hospital which not only promotes medical tourism but also allows students to train and get experience.
It was reported in September 2010 that UiTM planned to build a hospital which would place it on the world map, and that the project was expected to be completed in 10 years.
UiTM vice-chancellor Tan Sri Prof Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar had said it would be the first hospital in the country with "Super Hospital" status.