KOTA KINABALU – Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his cabinet should step down for failing to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, said Sabah DAP Youth publicity secretary Phoong Jin Zhe.
In a statement today, he said the Perikatan Nasional government, by rolling out standard operating procedures that are misleading and confusing, is doing the exact opposite of what it is supposed to do.
“This does not help Malaysia contain the pandemic, and it has failed us terribly.
“The pandemic in the country is getting out of control, with a new high of 6,075 fresh infections recorded yesterday. Without any policies to tackle the problem, Malaysia may end up like India.
“It is not an exaggeration to take India as an example; it recorded an average of 9,000 new Covid-19 cases a day in February, which then rose to 300,000 cases per day in three months. The daily cases multiplied by nearly 50.
“If the total cases are divided by the population, then India would have 18,317 cases per million people, while Malaysia recorded 14,648 cases per million people. This shows that our situation is not optimistic.”
The Health Ministry today announced that the country logged another 6,806 Covid-19 cases, beating the record set yesterday.
Phoong, who is also Luyang assemblyman, slammed the government over its decision to declare in January a state of emergency, which is slated to end on August 1.
“If the government was decisive, then it should have strengthened enforcement and not taken the movement control order for granted.”
He said Putrajaya has performed poorly on its vaccination programme – the only hope to end the health crisis.
“According to data up to May 17, three months after the vaccination programme started, only 1.23 million Malaysians had received their first jab, and 760,000 Malaysians were fully vaccinated.
“About 42% of our national population have registered for vaccination, but only some 6% have received the first dose.
“Taking the United Kingdom as an example, nearly 70% of its population have had their first jab, and 40% are already fully vaccinated. Their daily confirmed cases dropped from 60,000 per day in January to 2,000 per day in May.
“This proves that the vaccine is effective and efficient in combating the virus, as it also reduces fatalities.”
Phoong said the government owes to the people an explanation on vaccine distribution.
RM3 billion was allocated to purchase vaccines, he said, and billions more utilised from the National Trust Fund without going through Parliament.
“The Klang Valley is now severely affected, with increased calls for a total lockdown again. The people are fed up with the prime minister and his leadership because it is obvious that the government is incompetent and clueless in its efforts to contain this pandemic.” – The Vibes, May 20, 2021
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