Plans for Klang hospital scrapped

NST: KLANG: Datuk Seri Mohamad Khir Toyo has pulled the plug on plans by an international conglomerate to build a RM400 million hospital in Teluk Gadung here.
Klang Municipal Council (MPK) councillor Datuk Dr Teh Kim Poo said residents in the area had appealed to the menteri besar for help.
He said residents in the area did not want to live in the shadow of a huge hospital.
"It’s bad feng shui and they feel the value of their homes will drop," he said after the MPK full board meeting yesterday.
The project to build the 14-storey hospital, inclusive of a four-storey car park, at a 2.5hectare site was initially given the green light by the MPK town planning committee earlier this month.
Dr Teh, who lives 500m from the site of the proposed 150-bed hospital, also said that Klang did not need an additional hospital.
"We already have the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital and several private hospitals and so there is no necessity to build a new one."
However, not all MPK councillors at the meeting were pleased with the turn of events.
Mohd Raof Mokhtar, who is a member of the town planning committee which approved the project, said the case was setting a bad precedent.
"As long as the proposed hospital followed MPK building regulations and specifications, it should be allowed."
He added that the project had its merits and councillors should have used their position to convince residents instead of the other way around.
Meanwhile, councillor Zainuri Zainal said the issue should have been settled in the council, instead of getting the menteri besar involved.
"It looks like a circus, with some parties instigating the public to hold a protest and sending a memorandum."
Councillor Roslinda Abdul Jamil said MPK needed to be firm instead of back tracking on earlier decisions.
MPK president Abd Bakir Zin agreed the decision to scrap the project would be a loss of foreign direct investment for Klang, but said all was not lost for the American investors who have purchased the land for the project.
"They still have the option of revising their building plans by scaling down the size of the hospital and resubmitting their proposal or build the hospital elsewhere."