Cengkareng Hospital to be completed soon
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)