Kota Kinabalu, 12 October 2020
The call to have a health minister, a ministry created by the previous Warisan-plus government of two years is unnecessary and only a duplication of duties.
In fact, the Sabah Local Government Ministry has always been responsible for public health under the Public Health Ordinance 1960 and the Local Government Ordinance 1961. The ministry actually has the powers to enforce rules and fine offenders who flout the law in containing the spread of infectious diseases.
There is no need for so-called “health minister” pretending to be a federal health Minister (who is responsible for Medical services and hospitals etc.)
The so-called ‘Sabah Minister of Health’ has no clinic, no hospital, no doctor or any medical personnel under his ministry.
That was why during the 1st wave of Covid-19 in March to June this year, the Warisan/DAP Minister of Health was “missing in action”.
The post of “Sabah Minister of Health was superfluous and a pretension that his is equivalent as the federal minister of health”.
The recent appointment of Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun as the state government’s official spokesperson on Covid-19 is fitting since Masidi heads the Ministry of Local Government and Housing.
Further, a Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee has been set up beginning October 1. This committee, chaired by the Sabah State Secretary, already encapsulates the Federal Department of Medical Services and other public health agencies.
Datuk Yong Teck Lee
SAPP President