JAKARTA: A designated Covid-19 hospital will likely start operations next week on Galang Island, Riau Islands, President Joko Widodo said after visiting the site, which was almost 100 per cent complete.
“We hope the hospital will begin operations next Monday. The schedule has been delayed three to four days because there was an issue in transporting building materials to the island,” he said, according to The Jakarta Post.
The hospital sits on a 16ha site that was used as a camp for Vietnam War refugees in the 1970s and will comprise two zones.
The first zone will serve as a dormitory for medical workers and the management of the hospital, and will be equipped with 158 beds, laundry facilities and sterilisation facilities.
The second zone will be used as a ward for patients, and will have 20 beds in the isolation section and another 340 in the observation area.
Jokowi said despite the hospital being ready on Monday, he hoped it would not be used.
As it is, referral hospitals, including a makeshift facility at the Kemayoran Athletes Village here, were expected to be sufficient to handle Covid-19 patients.
“We built the hospital (in Galang Island) in anticipation of the spread of the virus.
“Hopefully, we will never have to use it to treat Covid-19 patients.”
Jokowi added the hospital would serve as a research facility and infectious disease treatment centre once the pandemic ends.
The decision to build a hospital on Galang Island that specialises in treating Covid-19 patients came after Jokowi held a meeting with aides in Jakarta on March 3.
Galang Island was chosen as the future site of the hospital because several buildings from the refugee camp that existed from 1979 and 1996 still remain.
The site has access to clean water and electricity, while the island is located 50km from the Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam.
State-owned construction company PT Wijaya Karya was chosen as the contractor for the project.
Batam Mayor Muhammad Rudi hoped that false information about the hospital would not be spread, after the plan was initially met with surprise and opposition from locals.
“We hope the hospital can commence operations next week,” he said, adding that the hospital would be operated by the military.