KOTA KINABALU – The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has lashed out against the Health Ministry for instructing a study on the privatisation of the food services in public hospitals.
Speaking to reporters here, Cuepacs president Datuk Adnan Mat described the study as unreasonable, as it is akin to providing government information that directly benefits a private company.
“We also believe the government should not be in the business of making profits, and should instead be focused on serving the people.
“This also goes against the government’s objective to improve and provide added value to public services,” said Adnan, adding that the union body was also disappointed as the government had allegedly failed to consult the public sector first before diving into such a study.
According to Adnan, the proposal on the privatisation of food services in hospitals was made by the Health Ministry in a letter dated January 11.
This comes following an application from a private company on the move dated December 22, last year.
Adnan said Cuepacs had received complaints from staff of the dietetics and food services department in hospitals about allegedly being instructed to provide data to the private sector for such a purpose.
He described the study as work that would directly benefit the companies, not the civil servants.
Adnan noted privatisation should not have been part of the government’s planning, as it was upgrading the current public sector services – an initiative that has been incorporated in the 11th Malaysia Plan.
He said the government should be focused on funding the upgrading of facilities more, and not giving them away to the private sector.
Adnan also noted that the privatisation of public services had also been done before, but did not achieve the desired goals.
He cited the privatisation of the cleaning services in the hospitals, which has seen much of the work going back to the hospital workers instead of the private company.
“Initially, some of the public servants in the department were offered jobs in these private companies.
“But eventually, they were stopped, and the companies began to hire others and pay them the minimum wage.
“In the beginning, the hospitals were asked to be supervised by the hospital workers like doctors and nurses.
“But the work is now done by the hospital workers themselves again,” he said, adding that he doesn't see the point in privatising public services when companies earn profits, and public servants are left to do the same job.
Towards this end, Adnan said instead of coming out with only the pros of privatisation, Cuepacs will offer another study, which would be based on the cons of the move.
He said the two papers would be presented to the ministry’s higher-ups when the time comes.
In Sabah, the move will affect around 79 dietitians and food handlers currently working at Queen Elizabeth Hospital I and II, as well as the Women and Children’s Hospital here.
Adnan, however, did not say how many staff would be affected in Sarawak and in the peninsula.
“There’s a possibility they might be posted elsewhere in Sabah or in the far-flung areas of the state, where they would have to relocate or be far away from their families.” – The Vibes, March 3, 2022
