Sarawak healthcare autonomy to be discussed this Friday, says Dr Sim

KUCHING (Jan 7): A delegation from the Ministry of Health (MoH) will be here for a meeting this Friday to discuss matters pertaining to Sarawak’s healthcare autonomy, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.

The Public Health, Housing and Local Government Minister said the delegation will be led by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

“The minister is bringing a delegation down to Sarawak for a meeting because this (discussion on Sarawak autonomy in health) has been longstanding.

“We were so worried and unhappy because Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof previously, before the six state elections in Peninsular Malaysia, said that the discussion must be done within six weeks. But six months later nothing happened.

“So I’m very grateful that the newly appointed minister and his officials will be here by the end of this week,” he told reporters here today when asked to comment on the progress of Sarawak’s discussion with Putrajaya on the state’s healthcare autonomy.

Asked on what would be discussed during the meeting, Dr Sim said he did not want to pre-empt what would transpire from the meeting.

“We will see and at the end of the meeting. We will issue a press statement to announce,” he said.

However, Dr Sim said that he had previously informed the health minister that the current health system was not feasible.

“For instance, Sarawak’s population may be small but our land is vast, so that is why we requested not only have a heart centre in Kuching but also in other cities in the state like Sibu and Miri.

“What is important for us is that we always have to make healthcare a priority because healthcare is so expensive these days,” he remarked.

Earlier, Dr Sim, who is Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president, launched the memoir of former Batu Kawa assemblyman Datuk Alfred Yap at SUPP headquarters.

He said the book is a documentation of Yap’s contributions as well as spirit, and also the life sacrifices he and his family had done for Sarawak, SUPP and Batu Kawa constituency.

“All these documentations from the book are important because in a different era, there are different challenges and with different leaders, you have different ways of doing things,” he said.

He added that under SUPP, the target and objectives for the party has been the same since its formation in 1959 – to fight for Sarawak.

Meanwhile, Yap said his memoir titled ‘Those were the Days; Memories Forever’ was about his life starting from his childhood up to the days when he entered and left politics.

“These are recollections of my experience including when I was serving as Batu Kawa assemblyman from 1992 to 2006, as well as my time helping SUPP after I stepped down,” he said.

He also hoped that through his memoir, it would encourage the younger generation to be involved in politics and join SUPP.

“The future of the party lies on the hands of our younger generation,” he said.