JOHOR BARU: Talks over a piece of land earmarked as the site for Hospital Sultanah Aminah 2 (HSA 2) are still ongoing between the Health and Defence Ministries, says Dr Zaliha Mustafa.

The Health Minister said the discussions would take two to three months before a final decision can be made.

"The Defence Ministry is aware of the importance of (building the hospital) and will look into the suitability of using its land for the construction.

"We (the Health Ministry) have no problem (with building the hospital)," she told reporters when asked about the progress of HSA 2 here on Sunday (June 18).

On Thursday (June 15), Johor health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said discussion is ongoing between the ministries over the piece of land in Skudai.

He said this was because the land identified as a suitable location for the hospital is owned by the Defence Ministry.

“We faced some difficulties over the land matter previously and have asked the Health Ministry to carry out discussions with the land owner.

“Once the matter is resolved, we can proceed to apply for an allocation for the construction of the hospital,” he told a press conference after the state assembly sitting recently.

Earlier on Sunday, Dr Zaliha witnessed the handing over ceremony of three projects to her ministry by the Public Works Department: a new pathology laboratory at HSA, a health clinic at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah and a health clinic at Palang Timur, Segamat.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi expressed his gratitude to the Health Ministry and Dr Zaliha for having a discussion with the state government on several health matters.

He said among them were the staff shortage, infrastructure improvements and the construction of HSA 2.

Onn Hafiz also thanked the Ministry for the projects amounting to RM73.5mil that will be completed soon.