Barisan Nasional's ex-component party Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) wants the state government to pursue the yet-to-be-released additional RM1 billion development allocation promised by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in May last year.

chong pit fah sapp info chief 121208 Sapp information chief Chong Pit Fah (left) in a statement to Malaysiakini made the call in response to Deputy Health Minister Dr Abdul Latif Ahmad’s statement on Monday that the government could not do much to resolve the ongoing debacle besieging the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) ‘as there is no provision for the construction of a new general hospital under the 9 th Malaysia Plan, which is expiring next year.’

Chong argued that the ongoing debacle besieging QEH deprived the city of a general hospital, making it even more pressing and urgent that the state government pursue the RM1 billion additional allocation immediately.

Since QEH, which is the main referral hospital in the state, was declared unsafe last December and its patients transferred to the various district hospitals including the privately-owned Sabah Medical Centre (SMC), the medical and healthcare scenario in the state was literally in a mess.

This situation has come under fire by many quarters, especially the opposition, Chong said.

"With the said RM1 billion allocation, the state government can decide on the best option to resolve the QEH issue, whether to build a new general hospital or to buy an existing private hospital," Chong said .

queen elizabeth hospital kota kinabalu 251008 He urged both the federal and state governments to stop all rhetorics and to immediately come out with an effective solution to the issue, saying at present many patients were suffering or might even face untimely demise due to the lack of medical and healthcare facilities following the closure of QEH.

Chong said: "It is appalling that although the authorities concerned, both state and federal knew about the problems in QEH as far back as two years ago and that evacuation was imminent, they did nothing as if the health and lives of the people in Sabah can wait for the convenience of the politicians and planners."

"No more excuses can be tolerated," he added.

Musa Aman’s insensitive remarks

He especially took to task the Chief Minister Musa Aman over the latter’s recent statement urging the people to be patient while waiting for the QEH issue to be resolved, describing it as callous, absurd and unbecoming.

"How can the people be patient if they are sick and need to be treated urgently? The chief minister might as well tell the people not to fall sick until a new hospital is built," he said.

Chong also found it odd that Musa (right) would assign one of his assistant musa aman pc in sabah 190608 01 ministers to liaise with Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai in addressing the QEH problem when in fact three senior ministers from Sabah namely Bernard Dompok (Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department), Maximus Ongkili (Science, Technology and Innovation Minister) and Shafie Apdal (National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister) sit in the Cabinet.

The Sapp information chief wondered whether Musa has problem working with all the three senior ministers, forcing him to enlist the assistant minister concerned to carry out the task.

Sabahans not on priority list

Chong also argued that citing the lack of funds is unacceptable as it clearly showed that the federal government considered Sabah at best a ‘fringe state’.

"It is obvious that we are an incidental problem to them. We are never in their serious agenda. That is why you see the federal government unhesitatingly deferring the introduction of new toll rates and instead chose to pay the concessionaire multi-million ringgit in damages. And in spite of all this they tell Sabahans that they have no money to save lives in Sabah," he said.

dr abdul latiff ahmad Chong also described Dr Abdul Latif’s (left) statement that there is ‘no provision under the 9 th Malaysia Plan’ as a lame excuse and an insult to the people of Sabah.

"Were the Sabah Development Corridor, the RM1 billion additional allocation and the multi-million ringgit compensation to the toll concessionaires originally listed in the 9 th Malaysia Plan?" Chong questioned.

Chong reiterated that in the interest of Sabahans, Sapp would consider rallying mass protests and launch a signature campaign to compel the government to resolve the issue effectively and without anymore delay.