Talks on devolving healthcare to Sarawak have collapsed, says deputy premier

SARAWAK Deputy Premier Dr Sim Kui Hian today said talks with Putrajaya on the devolution of powers over healthcare in the state had collapsed, claiming that Putrajaya was not taking the state’s request seriously.

After inspecting renovation work on a women and children’s clinic in his constituency of Batu Kawa, which was way behind schedule, Sim said calls from the state to devolve powers to it had “not been taken seriously by the federal government”.

Sarawak has been seeking executive authority over healthcare as set out in Article 80(4) of the Federal Constitution.

Article 80(4) states that “federal law may provide that the executive authority of a state shall extend to the administration of any specified provisions of federal law and may for that purpose confer powers and impose duties on any authority of the state”.

The executive authority requested by the Sarawak government would enable the state to carry out federal functions over health matters.

Sim said as it is, Putrajaya is failing to fulfill its responsibilities and obligations in providing better healthcare infrastructure and services as people in the state expected.

That, he said, showed when work to upgrade the women and children’s clinic was not properly supervised.

He said if the Sarawak government had the executive powers, it could assist the federal government in fixing all the run-down healthcare facilities and re-equipping those that needed new equipment so as to offer better medical care to the people of Sarawak.

The Batu Kawa Women’s and Children’s Clinic saw renovation and upgrading work start at the end of April, scheduled for completion on July 15. Currently only 38.9% of the work has been completed.

Sim said for the contractors to meet the completion deadline in two weeks time is simply a monumental task.

He had personally sought funds for the clinic, which he said had “suffered from years of neglect, resulting in inadequate facilities”, from former health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa, who then allocated RM300,000.

Sim said when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was in the state for an official visit in March, the state government told him RM17 billion was needed to repair and upgrade all the healthcare facilities throughout Sarawak.

The prime minister agreed that the Sarawak government would initially fund the repair of dilapidated clinics, with the federal government reimbursing the costs later.

Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg then announced the Sarawak government would allocate RM100 million to fix the run-down clinics and buy new equipment to replace ageing ones.

Sim said what is pressing is for more new clinics to be established to meet the demands of the region’s rapid development and growing population. – July 2, 2024.