Responding yesterday to a post on Threads about the lack of government hospitals in the three densely populated areas, which have a combined population of around 1.2 million, Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari said the state government and the health ministry were “looking for suitable land” in Petaling Jaya.
“How is it possible that after nearly eight years of leading the administration of Malaysia’s richest state, Amirudin has still failed to resolve a basic issue such as providing land for public healthcare facilities?” said Selangor Bersatu Youth chief Na’im Brundage.
“This excuse is even weaker when we look at the private sector, which has had no difficulty finding sites and successfully building three large specialist hospitals in the area in recent years.
“How can private companies obtain land to build hospitals while the Selangor state government is still struggling to find a suitable site?” he asked in a statement.
Na’im said that under the Land Acquisition Act 1960, the Selangor government has the authority to acquire privately owned land for public interest purposes such as the construction of hospitals, schools, and police stations.
He said the state government had used the act over the past eight years to acquire land for major projects such as the LRT3, MRT2, ECRL and flood mitigation retention pond projects.
“Why has the state government not used the same act to gazette land for the construction of a government hospital for residents of Petaling Jaya, Subang, and Puchong?” he said.
“The people of Selangor are watching closely to see whether this administration truly prioritises the welfare and health of the rakyat.”
The Petaling Jaya parliamentary constituency had a population of 362,290 as of 2020, according to the statistics department. Subang had a population of 478,154, while Puchong had 375,181 residents.
Residents in the three areas seeking tertiary healthcare services currently have to travel to Selayang Hospital and Sungai Buloh Hospital in the north; Sultan Idris Shah Hospital in Serdang and Putrajaya Hospital in the south; and Shah Alam Hospital and Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang in the west.
Other options include Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Ampang Hospital.