Sarawak to gain autonomy on health, Dr Dzul to finalise details with state

SARAWAK and Putrajaya will hold talks next week on finalising details of the agreement between both sides to hand over full autonomy and control over the health sector to the Borneo state.

Federal Health Minister Datuk Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad will be coming to state capital Kuching for the talks, said the state’s Deputy Premier Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian today.

"Next week, the federal health minister will come to Kuching and we will try to get things finalised so that we can take full autonomy control soonest.

"The agreement between Putrajaya and Sarawak was already in place. The implementation part is not done yet,” said Sim, who will be involved in the talks.

"We want the implementation of autonomy and control settled fast," he told reporters at an event in Kuching.

Last year, the federal Unity Government had agreed in principle to give Sarawak full autonomy in matters pertaining to education and health.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusuf had then said that the federal cabinet had made a decision on the matter.

He had described the decision as an important step forward in resolving outstanding issues on Sarawak's rights as contained in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

"In principle, this devolution of autonomy in education and health to Sarawak is already agreed to.

"The finer details of how to carry out the devolution is now in progress," said Fadillah, who is minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Sabah and Sarawak affairs.

He is also MP for Petra Jaya in Sarawak.

The latest move on the devolution would be beneficial for Sarawak in terms of being able to control the development of education and health, both vital sectors.

As an example of federal projects delayed, The Vibes had reported in 2022 of the abandoned construction of a government clinic launched eight years earlier for natives near the Bakun Dam in central Sarawak. 

Soon after the 15th general election in November 2022, Sarawak PKR had appealed to newly appointed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to hasten the devolution of autonomous power in health and education.

Its adviser and former Miri MP Dr Michael Teo Yu Keng had told The Vibes then that the devolution of authority in these two sectors could be achieved quickly.

IN fact, the matter had been included in Sarawak PKR’s manifesto for the general election.

"These two sectors of health and education can be taken over by the Sarawak state government very soon.

"We PKR have spoken about this matter to Datuk Seri Anwar before and he was agreeable.

"Now that he has become PM, this handing over of autonomous control of health and education to Sarawak can be done very soon,” Teo had said.

Taking over the affairs of health and education would also enable decision-making and disbursement of development funds to be done fast, he said.

At present, all decisions pertaining to health and education in Sarawak need to be referred to the ministries in Putrajaya.

The process requires a lot of tedious submission of letters, documents, application forms and so on, he explained.

This contributed to repairs and upgrading of hospitals, clinics, and schools to take a long time. – The Vibes, January 8, 2024