There has been much debate about the quality of buildings and the amount of money that were spent on building them. Now much more is needed to inspect and repair defects. It is only normal for many, including BN supporters, to question the processes involved in such contruction projects. Shouldn't the building be inspected first before official handover? And shouldn't the officer that accepted the handover of keys be charged with negligence?

When I was a medical officer at a health clinic and presided over a renovation project, I realised that all is not right in Bolehland. First and foremost, a small extension commanded an astronomical monetary figure. Secondly, the actual contractor had sub-contracted the project and thus claims little responsibility on the faulty workmanship. Thirdly, I was informed that the contract giver, in this case, a medical assistant, was paid 10% of the amount and was purportedly a normal practice. Lastly, there is no open tender as many projects are given out to people with special interests. In one particular case, the husband of the District Health Officer was awarded the construction project.

Now my time at UMMC is no different. New renovated buildings are faulty and I was informed that the Emergency building is still without its certificate of fitness, although it has been functional for a couple of years now. This building has been dogged by unending building defects and the quality of workmanship is poor. Heck, in some areas the staircases are uneven and are hardly built to meet high safety specifications.

Politics aside, this trend of poor quality buildings needs to be stopped. I fear that the only way to change the mentality and inject some urgency into the issue, is for a catastrophy to occur with unnecessary loss of lives. That will be inevitable if things are not put right now.