SIBU, April 5: An additional 125 parking lots will be made available at Sibu Hospital following frequent public complaints on the lack of parking space.
“I hope these additional parking lots can help alleviate the parking space problem. I have been receiving a lot of complaints from the public on the difficulty in finding a parking space at the hospital,” said Sibu MP Oscar Ling at the handing over ceremony of the project today.
The project, which is located behind the hospital canteen, will cost RM500,000 and will be ready for use in 16 weeks’ time as work will commence immediately.
Phase 1, consisting of 124 lots which is also next to the canteen, was completed in 2019.
Sibu Hospital director Dr Nanthakumar Thirunavukkarasu thanked Ling for initiating the project.
“The existing 682 parking lots in which 70 per cent of them are for public use and the remaining 30 per cent for hospital staff are insufficient,” he said.
He added that due to an acute shortage of parking space, visitors are parking their cars in non-designated parking zones in and outside the hospital gate.
Some would leave their car in Permai and use an e-hailing vehicle to get to the hospital.
“There are people parking their vehicles illegally. But we only compound those whose vehicles obstruct traffic flow, like those who park in the middle of the road,” he added.
Dr Nanthakumar said the hospital has 2,000 clinical staff and 200 supporting staff. The number of staff on morning shift is about 1,100.
Of the total, about 600 of them drive to work.
“The number of existing parking lots at Sibu Hospital is 682. The total average number of cars parked in the Sibu Hospital compound during peak hours is 1,070. To make up for the shortage of parking, staff and visitors are forced to double park and park along the entrance and exit routes,” he said. — DayakDaily
