CHANGE, ADAPT AND COMMIT

In early April 2020, MAEPS (the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang) managed by MARDI Corporation Sdn. Bhd. was appointed by Putrajaya to play a very significant role in the fight against the Coronavirus that hit our shores.

- POOVENRAJ KANAGARAJ

When it first opened its doors, the initial 604-bed quarantine and treatment centre was split into two huge halls with 400 and 204 beds each. The newly minted quarantine centre expected to receive low-risk patients from public hospitals in the Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan and Perak.

BusinessToday speaks to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) MARDI Corp, Zaidi Shahrim on the pivoting that had to be done from an event space that had been home to various showstopping events over the years to a quarantine centre.

“We had no knowledge in building a makeshift hospital and a quarantine centre. In fact, none of the agencies involved had any background in doing so but we had creativity and the spirit to make sure it worked,” he said.

“I was asked to open the hospital and I told my staff to treat the process the same way they would when it came to preparing an event. MAEPS was known for hosting the MAHA exposition and using the skills the team had learned over the years, we managed,” Zaidi shares.

Timing had to be impeccable as the request from Putrajaya required Zaidi and his team to set up the 1st Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre at MAEPS (PKRC MAEPS 1.0) within four days as the cases were spiking.

The speed they worked with earned them recognition in the Malaysian Book of Records as the Fastest to Complete Interim Treatment Centre in the country.

When the cases were on the decline, the centre’s role slowly relaxed however, things took a turn late last year when the cases saw a spike. “We were called again to reactivate PKRC MAEPS 2.0 and we needed to convert the whole setting back into a hospital within days.”

MARDI Corp managed to complete the project by the government in three days to transform the exhibition halls into a makeshift hospital for Covid-19 patients.