Why was QE Hospital hastily demolished?

QEH Kota Kinabalu

Questions abound as to who would benefit most from the hasty demolition of Sabah's QE Hospital and the construction of a 10-storey twin tower at the site?

KOTA KINABALU: The state government may have demolished one of its buildings with undue haste.

According to new information, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital which was razed several months ago was ‘structurally sound’ and damaged portions could have been saved.
 The iconic eight-storey tower block that was opened in 1981 was demolished in haste last year to make way for a 10-storey twin tower project.

“It was done so fast before any discussions could be made (on repairing the building),” said a knowledgeable source.

The source cited the case of another multi-storey building in the city that was once condemned and left vacant for years and which had recently been refurbished and turned into a hotel.

“The same could have been done for the QEH. If the Nautica building can be changed from unsafe to safe, the QEH was a hundred times stronger,” said the source.

The commonly held believe is that ‘vested interest’ was involved in the hasty condemnation and demolition of the hospital.

“Just imagine, putting a 10 storey twin towers is going to be very lucrative for whoever gets the contract,” added the source.

Consultant engineering firm Kumpulan Ikram Sdn Bhd and the Public Works Department have justified the demolition on the grounds that the buildings would not stand for long and it was uneconomical to repair.

Poor planning

FMT sources however disagreed and said that such a major decision should have involved other professional bodies.

The demolition of the QEH Tower block, which acted as the main referral hospital in the state, caused a massive headache for health services with patients having to be shuttled around from hospital to hospital within the state.

The city has been without a general hospital for almost three years while a private hospital, Sabah Medical Centre, has been purchased and is being renovated to act as a substitute until the completion of the new hospital blocks.

Since 2008, medical workers and patients have criticised the poor planning by the government which has put patients who are already suffering major illnesses and injuries to further suffering.

QEH was declared unsafe in October 2008 during an engineering evaluation by Kumpulan Ikram Sdn Bhd and the Public Works Department.

Chief Minister Musa Aman later announced that the hospital was to be relocated and it would be replaced with a twin towers that would house 660 beds.

Since then, the wail of ambulance sirens have resounded around the city and surrounding districts as they shuttle patients from hospital to hospital.

Casey Lee