By Aida Ahmad, The Star (1 April 2022) HOPE among Subang Jaya residents for a government health clinic in their midst has been dashed. SS15 Residents Association chairman Michael Sundram, 78, said going to the University Malaya Medical Centre in Petaling Jaya was taxing for senior citizens.
“With traffic congestion and difficulty of finding parking space there, we sometimes get delayed and miss our appointments.
“The hospitals near us are private, which means we need to fork out more if we want to seek treatment at those facilities.
“Having a government clinic in Subang Jaya will reduce the hassle of travelling.
“Subang Jaya is a city, so it should have a clinic,” he said.
Subang Jaya assemblyman Michelle Ng and Subang MP Wong Chen announced at a media conference that the public health facility project in Jalan Subang 3, USJ 1, Selangor had been cancelled.
“Work and site clearing activities started last year but then it stopped,” said Wong.
He said he raised the matter in Parliament last week and was told that the project, approved under the 12th Malaysia Plan, had been cancelled by the Economic Planning Unit on Aug 4, 2021.
“The reason given was that the project’s cost of RM67.8mil was too high, and it was also stated that the original budget for the clinic was RM45mil.
“If the increase (in budget) is disputed, then go back to the approved RM45mil budget,” Wong said.
He added that the latest 2020 census showed that the Subang constituency had a population of 478,000 and there was no government hospital or clinic in the parliamentary constituency.
Ng highlighted that 10% of the population comprised the urban poor.
“And by 2025, 10% of Subang Jaya’s population will consist of senior citizens.
“Both these groups total about 96,000 people. This more than qualifies the township for the planned government clinic which is designed to serve a catchment population of between 30,000 and 50,000 people,” she said,
Ng said the Kelana Jaya and Batu 14 Puchong clinics were the nearest government health facilities.
“Subang Jaya does not have a government hospital, health clinic or village clinic to serve its residents.
“We appeal to the Health Minister and the Prime Minister to urgently reinstate the Subang Jaya health clinic project according to the original budget,” she said.