Cengkareng Hospital to be completed soon

JAKARTA (JP): The construction of city-owned Cengkareng Hospital, worth Rp 134 billion (US$12 million), is expected to be completed in November and ready to serve the public by 2003, an official revealed on Monday.

The city assistant for development affairs, Ongky Sukasah, said construction of the seven-story hospital in East Cengkareng, West Jakarta, which was financed by the city budget, began in June of this year.

"The hospital is a priority since it is badly needed by West Jakarta residents," Ongky said at a hearing with City Council Commission D for development affairs.

However, he said the city administration expected the hospital would not start operating until 2003 as it needed to be equipped with medical equipment after construction was completed.

The hospital, which is built on a 2.3 hectare plot of land and has 300 beds, will serve people in the Cengkareng area who are mostly from a low-income bracket, Ongky said.

The land had earlier belonged to state-owned developer Perumnas and was later handed over to the city administration as a public facility.

"People in the area have had to go to a Tangerang-owned hospital. We only have a community health center in the area, which is no longer able to accommodate them," he said.

The hospital is also expected to support the nearby Soekarno- Hatta International Airport, which has yet to establish an appropriate emergency unit, he said.

Ongky claimed that the airport had yet to receive an international airport certificate due to a lack of feasible hospital support.

The Cengkareng Hospital will be the fourth that is owned by the city administration. The others are Koja Hospital in North Jakarta, Tarakan Hospital in Central Jakarta and Pasar Rebo Hospital in East Jakarta.

Ongky said the construction of Cengkareng Hospital was being carried out by state-owned developer PT Adhi Karya, the winner of the tender to build it.

"The whole tendering process was transparent. Adhi Karya defeated six other contractors, which were all state-owned firms," said Ongky, who rejected accusations of irregularities in the tender.

He said the tendering process was held with the assistance of the management and technology institute of the University of Indonesia, which had cooperated with the city administration on other various projects.

Commission D chairman Sayogo Hendrosubroto doubted that the construction of the hospital would be completed in six months.

"As a businessman who has a construction firm, I doubt that the seven-story hospital can be completed by November," said Sayogo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

His firm, which has experience in building hospitals, was not involved in the construction of Cengkareng Hospital.

Sayogo suggested that more contractors who have special skills should be involved, instead of it being handled by just one main contractor, such as PT Adhi Karya.

"If the company gives the project to subcontractors, the project's quality could not be guaranteed," he said.

Many councillors said they regretted the city administration providing only a general proposal of the hospital, and not any technical data during the meeting.

"We are disappointed that we discussed nothing. The hearing should also have discussed the technical matters of construction," Sayogo said.

Ongky apologized to the councillors for failing to provide data.(jun)