THE growing population in Bintulu has resulted in more demand for facilities and infrastructure, particularly healthcare facilities.
This was voiced out by Johnny Pang Leong Ming (GPS-Tanjong Batu), in his speech during the motion of appreciation to the Head of State, Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on Monday (May 23).
“The government needs to consider setting up another branch or second general hospital in Bintulu or reserve the neighbouring land surrounding the current general hospital for a major expansion.
“The population in my area is increasing rapidly with more and more job opportunities being made available thanks to investors.
“However, the capacity of the current general hospital doesn’t seem to be able to cope with the number of increasing patients.”
Pang also hoped that the Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development could look into setting up another secondary school in Tanjong Batu to solve the issue of overcrowding.
“For example, SMK Bintulu currently has approximately 3,006 students and this is far beyond the capacity of the school.”
He added that another issue plaguing the people was traffic congestion.
“It seems that the current road infrastructure is not capable of handling the volume.
“As mentioned earlier, Bintulu is undergoing rapid growth in recent years. Therefore, a need to look into upgrading the current infrastructure so that it can cater to the need of the area.”
Pang also stressed that more affordable houses were needed in Bintulu as it was always his vision for every family in his constituency to own a house.
“However, there is a lack of affordable houses in Bintulu. The situation is worsening with house prices going up instead of dropping due to increase in the cost of construction but bear in mind that there are still a lot of people in the community who can’t afford to own their first home.”
