ISKANDAR PUTERI: The two wards at Hospital Sultan Ismail (HSI) here, which was closed for about three years due to a shortage of medical staff, have been reopened to the public.
State health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon (pic) said the Health Ministry had recently assigned 35 nurses to the state and all of them have been sent to the hospital.
The two wards, with a capacity of 54 beds each, were opened on Wednesday, he announced yesterday.
“For a start, we are operating with 20 beds each because the nurses need time to get used to the hospital system.
“The wards will go full-fledged in stages,” he added.
On the progress of the construction of Hospital Sultanah Aminah 2 in Skudai here, the Yong Peng assemblyman said discussion is ongoing between the Health and Defence ministries to acquisition a piece of land for the project.
“This land belongs to the Defence Ministry.
“We faced some difficulties and have requested that the Health Ministry carry out discussions with the land owner,” he said, adding that the issue had been highlighted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during a meeting recently.
“Once the matter is resolved, we can proceed to apply for an allocation for the project,” he told a press conference after attending the state assembly here.
Earlier in the state assembly sitting, Johor investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han said the state had received RM10.6bil of committed investments so far this year.
He said this sum saw an increase of RM7.3bil (or 221%) compared to the RM3.3bil received in the same period last year.
“A total of 58 projects in the manufacturing sector, involving some RM1.8bil, and 147 projects in the service industry, involving some RM8.76bil, have been approved.
“This will lead to the creation of 298 job opportunities,” he said when answering to a question from Datuk Mohamad Najib (BN-Parit Yaani) who asked for an update on the state performance in encouraging investment.
