KOTA KINABALU – Since the Covid-19 bill was passed in Parliament on August 25, Sabah DAP today urged the federal government to expedite its gazettement.
Sabah DAP secretary and Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin said the RM45 billion Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill must be gazetted soon as the state is in urgent need of the allocation for medical equipment to cope with the drastic increase in Covid-19 cases.
“Without money and resources, the Health Ministry will not be able to cope with this situation. Sabah’s public health system is at stake.
“Now, the ministry is struggling with the lack of funding. The Malaysian Medical Association had issued a statement on October 18, urging the federal government to release emergency funds to manage the worsening Covid-19 situation in Sabah.
“The ministry had to also reactivate its special Covid-19 account to solicit donations from the public.
“It’s really alarming for the Sabah public health care system that the occupancy rate of 1,018 beds across nine Covid-19 hospitals here has reached 71%, and 72% of the intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the public hospitals are in use.
“There had been positive cases in Kinarut, but patients were left at home for two days before being taken to the hospital for treatment.
“This kind of delay, which is mainly attributed to the lack of resources, is unacceptable. Sabah needs the funds urgently to enable the ministry to deal with the increasing Covid-19 patients.”
Chan said during the passing of the bill in August, the MPs from Pakatan Harapan (PH) had suggested for a RM90 billion allocation instead, but was rejected by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
Meanwhile, Sandakan MP Vivian Wong echoed Chan’s stance, saying the delay is unacceptable as it has already been seven months since the first movement control order was called.
“The bill was supposed to help the people during MCO. Now seven months has passed and there is still no action from the government even though the bill has been passed in both Houses.
“This shows that the government’s focus is clearly not on combating the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Wong said there has been no official discussion among the DAP MPs on their next move if the bill is still not gazetted in the next Dewan Rakyat sitting.
“What we really want now is for the government to focus on the Covid-19 situation. We just need everything to move forward faster.” – The Vibes, October 20, 2020
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