It was only last week that I discovered that Kota Kinabalu does not have a proper general hospital. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital there was first built in 1957. Then, it had 343 beds that catered to the needs for a small population of 30,000 people. However, in November 2008, the twin tower blocks of the hospital were closed. Even at that time, it had only 589 beds for the 1/2 million people of Kota Kinabalu. The QEH home page here speaks volumes. From various websites and chats with doctors, I discovered to my horror that patients to go to outlying district hospitals as far as Beaufort, Kuala Penyu and Tuaran because of the problems created by the closure. Ironically, cases from district hospitals were previously sent to to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Is this progress for the rakyat?From my conversations with various doctors, I discovered that it is not only patients who have been suffering. Doctors and staff in KK have to suffer great inconvenience shuttling here and there the various buildings (some at their own expense) especially when supplies have run out. In such a scenario, have we seen any practical and coherent plan to resolve such problems not only in KK but also in other parts of Malaysia? Instead, we see many arguing over the feasibility of private hospitals. I am sure that the people concerned knew about the closure in advance and yet had does not seem to have put any contingency plan into action if any. My friends in the medical fraternity are very saddened because the needs are there and not been met. People are dying while other sick people and their families are made to endure further pain and suffering, and probably avoidable deaths.
According to THIS SITE:
Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) assured people that a petition will reach Prime Minister urging him to immediately solve the more than one year crisis beleaguering Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), here.Most shocking that they were not able to hand over the petition because of obstruction from who else??? I have yet to know the latest. From a contact in KK, it appears that there were structural problems in the building. Are we surprised?
SAPP Information Chief Chong Pit Fah said the party was prevented to hand over the petition to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Saturday at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, here, due to obstruction from the authority.
Chong said SAPP understands the plight of the people statewide who yearns for better health and medical care services when the main tower block of QEH was declared unsafe since November 2008.
And then we read about how the Shah Alam Hospital may be delayed because of disgruntled contractors - one of whom may be declared a bankrupt as reported over HERE. I am not going to say much about this hospital because it is such a complicated issue but am posing the extract here:
MH has issued a March 31 notice of demand to Sunshine Fleet under section 218 of the 1965 Companies Act.
According to the section, "The court may order the winding up if ... the company is unable to pay its debts." Winding-up is a process where a company's assets are seized and used to pay its debts.
In the letter, hand delivered to Sunshine Fleet last Thursday, GMH is demanding that the Tengku Arafiah's company - the main contractor of the massive hospital project - repay the amount owed.
"We have been instructed to demand from you, which we hereby do, that you are to pay to us as solicitors, the sum of RM10 million, only being the sum you owe our client as a result of our client paying on your behalf the advance payment bond or bank guarantee placed with Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR)."
Sunshine Fleet is owned by the Selangor sultan's sister Tengku Arafiah (70%), her son Putera Azamuddin Shah Abdul Aziz (10%), and her uncle Tengku Abdul Samad Shah Sultan Salahuddin Abd Aziz
On winning the contract in 2007, Sunshine Fleet has first sub-contracted the project to ailing construction firm Isyoda. Isyoda was unable to complete the project after it was delisted from Bursa Malaysia, and is in the process of being declared bankrupt.
The project was later sub-contracted to GMH.
GMH claimed that when it took over last year from Isyoda, it had to fork out RM10 million to repay the ailing construction company for the bond the latter placed with the Public Works Department (PWD) on Sunshine Fleet's behalf.
According to standard procedure, the bond should have been paid by the turnkey contractor Sunshine Fleet as the main contract holder.
Sources informed Malaysiakini that the inability to agree over 'money matters' has also caused a fallout between Sunshine Fleet and Isyoda.
This problem has again soured ties between Sunshine Fleet and its new sub-contractor GMH.
NONESunshine Fleet will have 21 days from the receipt of the letter to repay the RM10 million or face further actions.
"If you neglect to repay the sum as herein above demanded or to secure or compound the same to the reasonable satisfaction of our client, you will be deemed to be unable to repay your debts and appropriate actions be taken for your winding-up," said the letter of demand.
Acting on the sub-contractor's behalf is legal firm Gunaseelan & Associates.
Calls for probe
This altercation is the latest in a series of tussles between the two disgruntled partners in the 300-bed Shah Alam Hospital project being built in Section 7.
Malaysiakini has reported last year that Sunshine Fleet was accused of siphoning off funds from the project to the detriment of GMH, which had to bear the costs.
The matter was deemed serious enough to draw the attention of DAP parliamentarian Tony Pua, who demanded that the scandal be investigated by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The troubled hospital drew the concern of transparency advocates over the directly-negotiated government contract, despite being earlier announced as an open tender.
The allegedly overpriced Shah Alam Hospital is yet another government project which has been called into question over gross irregularities in its award and implementation.
Although initially announced as costing “about RM300 million”, the eventual contract has come to worth a whopping RM482 million - a mark-up of RM182 million.
The PWD has however issued a statement claiming that the project was 'clean' and proper. CLICK HERE to read more.
And we are talking about 1Malaysia Clinics. What will happen to the rakyat? I am sure there are more problems in many other areas. But will we ever know? I sincerely hope and pray that the authorities concerned MUST always remember that the rakyat comes first above all else.
If you have time, please check out my other posts on THE CRY FROM A DOCTOR'S HEART and also THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF HEALTH CARE.
Please leave a comment to share your views and comments. I hope more readers from Sabah and Shah Alam, in fact I hope as many readers will comment and share their experiences. Thanks! Take care and have a blessed day!
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Update on 6th April
Dear readers,
Something is wrong with my blog...I cannot read my old comments even though it shows that they are there numerically.
The error shown is
bX-y462he and a few other errors.
You can email your comments to me at
mwsunplugged@gmail.com and I will post them with your name/nom de plume.
I have already reported it to blogger and hope the problem will be resolved as soon as possible.
If this problem does not resolve within the next few days, I will direct you to another site.
Thanks for your patience.
Best wishes
Anonymous I’ve never had the misfortune to visit any government hospitals ever in my life, but I gotta say this:
The good and entrepreneurial ones leave after their bondage (if they are bonded), to set up their own private practice.
The good but cautious ones leave to join private hospitals where pay and working conditions are far more superior
The good ones disillusioned with racial discrimination, migrate.
The really good ones never really returned after graduating overseas.
Sitting behind the desk in the government hospitals, with a stethoscope strapped around their necks, are mostly “dogtors” who will not even touch your hands if they can help it.
What else can I say? (Sigh)
StraightTalking