The Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, which was supposed to be completed by December, will push back its opening by about six months due to construction delays, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the National Day Rally yesterday.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said it has asked JurongHealth Services to work with the contractors to avoid further delays to the project. “MOH will continue to work with JurongHealth to actively monitor progress of the construction, and mobilise the necessary resources to speed up its development.”
The main problem is the delay in building exterior works which has also affected the schedule for the internal works, according to a statement by JurongHealth.
Foo Hee Jug, CEO of JurongHealth, said, “As we were tracking the progress of the project, we became concerned with the progress of the building exterior works which had started to fall behind schedule. We had been working closely with our consultants and the main contractor to bring the exterior works back on track. After several months of trying to bring the programme back on schedule, the contractor confirmed that the construction will be delayed despite the remedial actions.”
The exterior building works include elements such as windows, glass panels, air vents and cladding. These are critical works and are essential for some areas of interior works to continue.
Apologising for the delay, Foo said, “It is necessary to defer the opening date to allow construction to catch up and to make sure there is sufficient time to commission properly so that we open safely for our patients.”
Located along Jurong East Street 21, the 700-bed hospital will be a part of the Jurong Lakeside District and was awarded the Green Mark Platinum award by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) last year.
Image source: JurongHealth’s website
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
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