The new Sabah cabinet which was officially sworn in last Thursday, has REJECTED calls to appoint a health minister.
Sabah PN led by power hungry politicians from the state and egged on by Putrajaya, were desperate to grab power from the previous Warisan government.
Having “won” the election, they rushed to secure the prize positions in the state administration, but now, when there is work to be done, they just sit on their bums and do very little. Every excuse not to act has been dished out. Gaji buta comes to mind.
Malaysia recorded 2,951 Coronavirus cases in the last week (3 – 10 October), and this is the worst deterioration since the start of the pandemic in January.
The state needs decisive and immediate action. its Chief minister, Hajiji Noor is ill with Coronavirus and the three deputies dither and make umpteen excuses not to act. Sabahans should get rid of these three useless, gaji-buta and incompetent deputies.
First excuse Deputy chief minister, Bung Moktar Radin, said that a health minister was NOT appointed because the state did not want an overlap of job scopes. He said that health is under the purview of the federal government.
Isn’t the scope of works and infrastructure of which he controls, also under Federal, as is Education and many others? If the truth be told, Putrajaya has its dirty fingers in just about every juicy pie. Bung’s excuse is pathetic.
Excuse 2. Bung told Malaysiakini that the Sabah cabinet would discuss the matter of appointing a health minister, at a meeting set for 14 October.
This is typical lack of leadership. “Wait first” is their policy. Let’s arrange a meeting, to arrange another meeting and so on. No decision is taken apart from arranging numerous meetings
He said, “We will handle this next Wednesday… we will not add another minister (into the state cabinet) but will give the portfolio to one of the (existing) ministers.”
Excuse 3. Bung, who is also Sabah works minister, said that during BN’s rule, there was no health portfolio.
He said, “We want to make sure there is no overlapping (of work). But the people will still be taken care of.”
The health portfolio was created during’s Warisan rule.
Does Bung imagine that everything done under BN is correct?
Excuse 4. Three new ministries were set up – health and people’s wellbeing, education, and law and native affairs, during the Warisan administration.
Bung is aware that the PN appointees lack calibre and may not be able to administer these ministries. For him, it is better not to have the health ministry, than to be seen as incompetent.
Excuse 5. Deputy Chief Minister II Jeffrey Kitingan said that the health portfolio had been grouped under the state Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Shahelmey Yahya.
Jeffrey said, “(This portfolio) does not have executive power, so we grouped it together.
“The relevant information on Covid-19 can directly be obtained from the Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee.”
Jeffrey’s excuse reasoning is just as pathetic as his remark that “It’s unfortunate”, when asked about an unelected PAS man forming part of the state administration.
Is Jeffrey unaware the pandemic is getting worse in Sabah?
Excuse 6. Sabahan medical services are being overwhelmed by the rise in Coronavirus mainly because of the stupidity of the politicians who ignored the strict SOP guidelines.
Sabahan Coronavirus cases are rising fast, and three deaths have been recorded. The ICU at the Queen Elizabeth hospital is at full capacity and is at bursting point. One nurse has already contracted the disease, Sabahans need a dedicated and effective team to overcome the resurgence.
Excuse 7. Muhyiddin blames undocumented migrants for spreading the disease, and downplays the role played by his politicians in spreading the disease.
Perhaps, he could whip his people to be more responsible. Many of the PN politicians who were campaigning did NOT observe social distancing.
Excuse 8. If Muhyiddin blames the migrants, how come a detention centre allowed large numbers of detainees to escape. The borders are still porous, despite the billions of ringgits poured into ESSCOM.
When is Muhyiddin, who has been through successive Umno-Baru/BN and PH and now, PN governments, been unable to sort out the mess? He’s another clueless and ineffective minister. Where is the money to sort out the borders going to? Corruption has a part to play here.
Excuse 9. PH and the gila kuasa Muhyiddin engineered the Sheraton move, in February, just when the nation was about to be hit hard, by the Coronavirus pandemic. Today, he repeats his performance in ensuring political instablity…all because of gila kuasa.
The then Minister for Health, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, was already taking steps to contain the virus despite the World Health Organisation being slow to declare it ia pandemic. Then came the Sheraton Move and the nation was thrown into confusion. Malaysia did NOT have a health Minister for close to two weeks, until Muhyiddin appointed Dr Adham Baba, who is better known for his air suam treatment for Coronavirus.
Ten months later, the power hungry Abah instigated another power grab, this time in Sabah. And as before, there was confusion and a waste of time and resources. And also like in February, there was a spike in Coronavirus casess, soon after.
The common factor in both Putrajaya and in Sabah, is the political instability caused by Muhyiddin and his gila kuasa.
Excuse 10. Hajiji’s administration was quick to appoint a non-elected PAS man to be part of the state administration, but cannot bring itself to deal with this crisis, by appointing a dedicated health minister.
The Sabah PKR chief Christina Liew was disappointed with the failure of the state to appoint a health minister in the state cabinet.
Christina said, “Universally, health is a major area of concern. Right now, we are being dealt another severe blow as Sabah goes through the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the highest number of cases in the country.”
It is also alleged that Hajiji’s administration hides vital information. It has been very slow to disclose new Coronavirus data for Sabah, compared with the previous Warisan administration .
The Sabah Health Department was also criticised for sharing less detailed Coronavirus data, based on districts, instead of sub-district data which was available to the public during the previous Warisan government.
Abah should use the rotan on himself. He is extremely irresponsible and incompetent. He avoids reporters and avoids scrutiny for his actions.
The whole PN machinery was quick to grab power. Then when they were given their jawatans, then became slow to serve the Sabah people.
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