KUALA LUMPUR – The hotly contested budget allocation for the Health Ministry today passed with a voice vote despite the barrage of questions and concerns.
Putrajaya has allocated RM31.9 billion for the ministry next year.
However, the debates that preceded the vote raised serious concerns.
During a debate by Ahmad Hassan (Warisan-Papar), Hannah Yeoh (PH-Segambut) stood up to point out that Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba was absent from the proceedings.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon said the deputy health minister is present to answer questions.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali attempted to present his winding-up speech, but was interrupted numerous times by MPs, including those from his Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) and Datuk Jalaludin Alias (BN-Jelebu) told Noor Azmi to reply to the questions raised by other MPs directly.
Earlier, various MPs addressed the issue that certain allocations for the ministry had been cut, but Azmi said this is not the case.
He added that compared with 10 years ago, the ministry’s budget has doubled from RM15 billion. – The Vibes, December 9, 2020
