Harapan followed HSA 2016 fire inquiry report suggestions, says ex-minister
The Pakatan Harapan federal government had implemented recommendations made in the 2016 Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) fire inquiry report despite the document not being made public, said former health minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
Dzulkefly told Malaysiakini that the short-term measures included reinforcing the physical safety of HSA's buildings as Johor's largest medical facility and one of the country's oldest government hospitals.
"During my term, we carried out...
The Pakatan Harapan federal government had implemented recommendations made in the 2016 Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) fire inquiry report despite the document not being made public, said former health minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
Dzulkefly (above) told Malaysiakini that the short-term measures included reinforcing the physical safety of HSA's buildings as Johor's largest medical facility and one of the country's oldest government hospitals.
"During my term, we carried out various development plans to ensure the safety of the buildings in the HSA vicinity as part of the short-term plan.
"The rewiring of the whole hospital complex was also approved," he said.
Dzulkefly also echoed calls for the government to release the findings of the inquiry which was carried out by a seven-member committee headed by former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Hishamudin Md Yunus.
Dzulkefly said the Harapan government was in the process of making its findings public before they were removed from power in February.
"Principally, the Inquiry Panel Report of 2016 should be revealed to the public as it was a decision arrived at and taken by the previous cabinet.
"At the post-cabinet meeting of the Health Ministry, we were in fact planning to execute that decision," said Dzulkefly who currently heads the Selangor state government's Covid-19 taskforce.
Former premier Najib Razak yesterday urged the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to release the report, following another fire on Sunday at the women's ward of HSA.
He also pointed out that the contents of the report, which was completed on June 6, 2018, have yet to be made public despite calls for the then Harapan government to do so.
Dzulkefly, however, explained that there were still steps being taken after the report was declassified last Oct 2, before its findings were released.
"The delay was because of the decision of the post-cabinet to do an earlier briefing to the families' victims before presenting (the report) to the public.
"We were also discussing the process and mechanisms of implementation, whether to keep it online or publish it in hard copy for those who wanted to purchase the report," he said, adding, "That had, among other reasons, caused the delay."
"But l must hasten to add that we should publish it right now, after the declassification undertaken by the previous cabinet," he said.
The HSA recently made headlines after the editor-in-chief of health news portal CodeBlue, Boo Su-Lyn, was reportedly probed for her series of articles on the 2016 fire that claimed six lives.
This was followed by Sunday's fire which saw 24 patients evacuated with no fatalities.
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