Kelantan Asks For RM895 Mln Under 9MP

KOTA BAHARU, Sept 5 (Bernama) --Kelantan has asked for an allocation of RM895 million for several health projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) in the state.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said, among them were the construction of new hospitals, provision of training facilities and repair of existing hospitals and public health facilities.
He said the proposed 9MP expenditure was higher compared to that received under the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP) when the Kelantan Health Department was allocated only RM186 million.
Under the 8MP, 19 projects had been completed, six were being implemented and another four would be carried out under the 9MP, he told reporters after the Sultan of Kelantan, Tuanku Ismail Petra officially renamed the Kota Baharu Hospital as Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital after his mother, here Monday.
Dr Chua also said that Bachok would have a new hospital while the Gua Musang Hospital would be upgraded.
He said the Cabinet had approved a special expenditure totalling RM6.3 million for a Water Supply and Environmental Cleanliness programme under his ministry.
The ministry had also set aside RM40,000 to provide courses for food handlers and carry out vaccination to overcome the problem of water-borne diseases especially typhoid which often plagued the state, he said.
"We have identified over 1,400 typhoid cases last April and May in Kelantan especially in the districts of Kota Baharu, Tumpat and Bachok," he said.
He said water and food-borne disease cases like typhoid, cholera and diarrhoea were also detected in several other states but their number in Kelantan was higher.
Hopefully with the special allocation, the quality of clean water supplied to the people would be enhanced, he said.