Make HSA 2016 fire inquiry report public, Najib tells gov't
Former premier Najib Abdul Razak has urged the government to make public findings of an independent inquiry into a 2016 fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital, Johor Bahru, that claimed six lives.
In a Facebook post, Najib also urged police to drop a probe against health news portal CodeBlue's editor-in-chief Boo Su-Lyn, linked to her series of articles that quoted findings from the independent inquiry report.
- Added comments by Johor Bahru MP Akmal Nasir and Johor DAP chairperson Liew Chin Tong.
Former premier Najib Abdul Razak has urged the government to make public findings of an independent inquiry into a 2016 fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital, Johor Bahru, that claimed six lives.
In a Facebook post, Najib also urged police to drop a probe against health news portal CodeBlue's editor-in-chief Boo Su-Lyn, due to her series of articles that quoted findings from the independent inquiry report.
"In my opinion, the Perikatan Nasional government should immediately make public the findings of the report because it has been ready for a long time.
"I am also pleading with the police and Attorney-General's Chambers to not take drastic actions against Boo Su-Lyn because I see that she is sincere in improving Malaysia's health care system," he said.
Boo (photo) is being probed under Section 203A of the Penal Code on disclosure of information linked to the 225-page report sighted by CodeBlue and highlighted in a series of four articles published in March.
Following the HSA fire, Najib said his BN administration at the time had set up an independent committee to, among others, identify the 2016 fire's cause and to make recommendations on how to prevent a repeat incident.
He also said then health minister Dr S Subramaniam had pledged no cover-ups of the case, including if it involved negligence of the ministry's staff or the concession company in charge of hospital maintenance.
"The report was completed on June 6, 2018, after GE14, and handed over to the Pakatan Harapan government.
"In handing over the report, the committee chairperson had urged the Harapan government to make public and announce findings in the report," said Najib.
Najib, however, pointed out that the contents of the report had not been made public to this day, while another fire had just broken out at HSA yesterday.
He was responding to DAP's Sungai Pinang assemblyperson Teng Chang Khim who yesterday made the call for PN to make public the 2016 HSA fire report.
Meanwhile, referring to Boo's articles, Johor Bahru MP Akmal Nasir (photo) said any inaccuracies should be clarified by releasing the report to the public and debating it during the upcoming July 13 Parliament session.
"Given that this report was ready since 2018, it is reasonable for the public to be informed on what actions have been taken to correct weaknesses and improve preparedness to face another hospital fire," he said.
Akmal also said debating the report in Parliament would allow lawmakers to play a check and balance role on an issue of public interest, as well as identify if there was a need for additional allocations for maintenance of government healthcare facilities.
Johor DAP chairperson Liew Chin Tong claimed that the government appeared adamant to silence its critics with the probe against Boo.
"Findings from the inquiry report are a matter of public interest and should be disclosed for everyone to learn and improve the existing conditions and procedures at our hospitals.
"The fire that happened yesterday afternoon is a clear testimony to the adage ‘those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it’.”
Health Minister Dr Adham Baba yesterday confirmed that a fire broke out in the women’s ward of the HSA at 3pm and all 24 patients were evacuated to safety.
When asked if the cause of the fire was similar to the October 2016 fire incident, Adham said, "We will wait for the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia's forensic report to determine if there are similarities. We will make sure the investigation is completed first."
