KOTA KINABALU – The federal government is turning a deaf ear to Sabah’s pleas to have an emergency call centre in the state after several deaths were reported over delayed responses to distress calls, Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Christina Liew alleges.
She said the inaction of the Communications and Multimedia Ministry is a departure from the concept of “Keluarga Malaysia” and is making the people of Sabah very unhappy.
“It is regrettable that undue delay in providing ambulance services due to an impractical and unrealistic system has caused unnecessary deaths here, which could have been prevented.
“In this respect, the federal authorities’ nonchalant attitude towards Sabah’s needs at the expense of the people leaves much to be desired.
“Hopefully, Sabah’s own emergency call centre can be established soon without further procrastination,” she said in a statement here today.
The issue had been raised in Parliament before in the aftermath of the Penampang fire, but only saw platitudes from federal ministers.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican had asked colleague Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa to improve the emergency call system.
However, Annuar reportedly gave no response on whether a call centre should be established in Sabah, but only explained the response time in relation to the fire.
Currently, all emergency calls made from Sabah to the Malaysia Emergency Response Services (MERS) 999 are directed to call centres outside Sabah first – for example, in Kuala Lumpur – before being passed to the relevant authorities in Sabah.
MERS 999 is an integrated system combining the emergency services of five agencies comprising the Royal Malaysian Police Force, Fire and Rescue Department, Health Ministry, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, and Civil Defence Force.
The former Sabah deputy chief minister reminded the public to keep the local direct emergency numbers handy until the federal government decides to establish an emergency call centre in Sabah.
She urged residents here and in surrounding areas to reach out to the Kota Kinabalu Lions Ambulance Service Society 24-hour emergency ambulance hotline number which is 088-319699 in the event of an emergency.
She said all "emergency" ambulance services provided by the society are free of charge as indicated in a 'reminder message' that has gone viral on social media.
54-year-old Liew Kok Fai from Ipoh, who worked here, died after a suspected heart attack caused him to ram a concrete fence in Taman Nelly in Kolombong here.
It took an ambulance an hour to reach the scene after the first call to the MERS 999 was disconnected when the call was diverted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Call Centre.
The call centre tried to call the hospital’s call centre six times but to no avail after the first caller failed to provide complete information to the personnel.
Only through a second call to MERS 999 ambulance that the hospital was able to obtain complete details about an hour later.
In September, a family of four perished in their house in Hungab, Penampang, after their home caught fire.
The Fire and Rescue Department took 45 minutes to reach the house after receiving a distress call, although the house was barely one kilometre away from the district fire station.
Many Sabah leaders and members of the public have said that unnecessary deaths as such could have been avoided if a local call centre was established. – The Vibes, May 10, 2022
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