By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, June 14: Sarawak Minister for Public Health, Housing, and Local Government (MPHLG), Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian, has reiterated that approximately RM17 billion is required to upgrade the State’s dilapidated clinics and hospitals.
Dr Sim, who is also the Deputy Premier of Sarawak, emphasised that a technical committee under the Federal government has been mobilised to address the issue and conduct a working visit.
“I spoke about this matter at the closing speech of the last Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS) session that (Sarawak needs RM17 billion).
“And the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) knows what the Sarawak government is offering, but they have a technical committee that has to see how much they want the Sarawak government to pay first, which one is the priority. So we leave that to the technical committee.
“If not later, the Premier of Sarawak (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg) and the Prime Minister will have to go to the field to personally visit every available dilapidated clinic. It’s not that they don’t want to, but there are many other things that need to be implemented,” he told reporters when met after launching the Heart2Miss programme held today at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) here.
Dr Sim added that every technical committee proposal will be discussed in a joint session.
“Perhaps there is something we can all agree on, or something we can’t agree on but can still implement later. We are also looking into the possibility of using some of the State government’s funds, and so on.
“The RM17 billion is a much, much bigger fund than dilapidated schools. What is important for the clinic is to upgrade all of its facilities,” he added.
He went on to say that the technical committee’s progress should be brought up for a meeting with Anwar.
“The meeting was said to take place next month and will be chaired by the Prime Minister.
“It is not just about health, but everything related to Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“This meeting does not mean that all issues will be resolved because of the autonomy of health and MA63 as a whole; all this is a journey, a roadmap that cannot be completed in just one night,” Dr Sim explained. — DayakDaily
