[UPDATED] Govt has until Budget 2022 or we strike again, says #HartalDoktorKontrak

KUALA LUMPUR – The #HartalDoktorKontrak movement will strike again with a second walkout should the government fail to come up with a satisfactory solution for contract doctors before tabling the Budget 2022.  

Considering the current political situation and instability in the country, the movement’s spokesman Dr Mustapha Kamal said it will give the government some time before coming up with a solution.

“If they do not respond before the tabling of Budget 2022, we will proceed with Hartal 2.0.

“In terms of how it’s being conducted, we have to reconsider current events such as the Covid-19 situation and the government’s situation.

“The Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba asked for two years, but two years is quite long given the current political instability in the country,” he said in a virtual press conference today.

Dr Mustapha said the movement is hopeful that the government will be able to come up with short- and long-term plans as soon as possible to rectify the problem.

“We had a small meeting with the health director-general (Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah) and he understands what we wanted and he hopes that Dr Adham will table it to Parliament and get approval from all MPs.

“It must be written in black and white and signed by the authorities because given the contract scheme, there is no circular or directive, it’s all just media statements from the prime minister and government,” he said.

In the meantime, he said the movement is now planning to form a union for junior doctors and are currently engaging with the Malaysian Trades Union Congress and Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services to ensure their voices will be heard. 

“We hope we can form the union before the tabling of the 2022 budget. Although we have the MMA (Malaysian Medical Association), it is more of an NGO. We need a trade union. 

“Until we have a union like the British Medical Association in the UK, we can’t address the problems we have properly,” he said. 

On Monday (July 26), a group of contract doctors in support of the #HartalDoktorKontrak movement walked out of hospitals nationwide to push for reform of the public health contract employment system.

Dr Adham had given assurance that no action will be taken against those who participated in the protests.

However, despite assurance by the health minister, the police have continued their investigations over doctors who participated in the walkout.

The police conducted midnight questioning of doctors at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS), following a report lodged by the centre’s director Dr Shahabuddin Ibrahim after several media personnel turned up to provide coverage on the strike.

Meanwhile, six media personnel from various agencies have been probed over alleged trespass into the low-risk Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centre.

‘Shouldn’t security be questioned instead?’

In a statement today, MMA president Prof Datuk Dr Subramniam Muniandy slammed the police for questioning doctors at MAEPS at midnight, saying that such actions are “unacceptable and unreasonable”.

“If there was an intrusion, shouldn’t the department in charge of security at the centre be questioned instead of the doctors?”

“Or are the doctors also in charge of security at the centre?” he asked.

Dr Subramaniam also said that the doctors would be willing to cooperate and give their statements, but at a more convenient time and if the statements are necessary.

“It was reported in the media that the doctors concerned were asked by the police to give their statements just before midnight until the wee hours of the morning.

“We do not see the rationale for them to give their statements at such ungodly hours.

“These doctors are frontliners at a Covid-19 quarantine centre, and the authorities should be more understanding of the work of these doctors who are treating such patients.

“The centre is overflowing with patients at this time and this can be stressful for all healthcare workers there,” he added. – The Vibes, July 30, 2021