3,600 applications to ministry still not processed

Star: PETALING JAYA: More than 3,600 applications for product registration that were submitted to the Health Ministry between 2003 and 2005 have yet to be processed.
According to the Auditor-General's Report, the ministry's pharmaceutical services division had planned its product registration, licensing and enforcement well but was weak at implementation.
There were also delays in processing, informing and delivering licences to applicants.
The report revealed that the delays ranged from four to 309 days.
The division looks into the safety and efficacy of all pharmaceutical, traditional and cosmetics products.
According to guidelines, the division was supposed to do a yearly check on licensed pharmacy premises but some premises were never checked.
From 2000 to the end of 2005, some 810 cases brought to court were not settled, mainly because the hearing dates were changed several times.
To speed up product registration, the Auditor-General recommended that the Health Ministry create a pre-screening process for online applications.
On the building of 33 new hospitals under the 8th Malaysia Plan at an estimated cost of RM7.52bil, the report said that the Hospital Information System that was originally in the hospital building package was re- moved.
As a result, nine of 11 contractors involved had demanded compensation totalling RM123.27mil from the Government.
The contractors of the buildings were also not selected from the Contractor Services Centre or the Construction Industry Development Board and equipment provided was not according to contract specifications.
The Auditor-General recommended that the ministry increase its supervision and ensure that projects were carried out according to schedule and specification.