Minister gets earful of Labuan's woes
Published on: Friday, July 03, 2015
Labuan: Only recently the local Member of Parliament had expressed his concerns over the facilities and services at the Labuan Nucleus Hospital and invited the Deputy Health Minister to visit the island. Now, the Labuan Chinese Chamber of Commerce (LCCC) has voiced similar views in a dialogue with the visiting Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Mah Siew Keong.LCCC Chairman Datuk Wong Kii Yii, who led a delegation of members, told the Minister that despite the hospital having been upgraded over the years it still continued to lack in even important basic facilities and wanted Mah to highlight this to the Prime Minister.
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To support his statement, Wong cited the recent death of 68-year-old LCCC Deputy Chairman Chin Kon Thau."We were shocked to discover that neither the hospital nor the airline could provide a suitable stretcher to send the patient by air to Kota Kinabalu so that he could have access to specialist treatment in the government or private hospital."It took about 20 hours or so to get a stretcher and while waiting for the equipment the patient died of excessive internal bleeding. He could not be even sent by an RMAF mercy flight because approval for such flight has to come from headquarters."Adding to this, said Wong, the hospital had also no spare portable oxygen tank or pulse reading equipment.
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"These matters need to be addressed immediately. Labuan is an island state and the nearest first grade medical facilities are in Kota Kinabalu, which is accessible only by air or ferry," he said.The chamber agreed with the MP's proposal that the hospital should urgently apply to the Health Ministry for an upgraded and fully equipped ambulance that could transfer critical patients to Kota Kinabalu via ferry. "Since there are now ample ferry services, it would be helpful if a proper ambulance is available."
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Following the MP's recent complaints, the hospital's Director, Dr Ismail Ali, had responded by saying that the upgrading of facilities was a continuous process and the hospital would strive to ensure its facilities and services meet public expectations.He said there was already an increase in specialists stationed at the Labuan hospital, adding that there were also more medical officers and new facilities included CT scan at its Radiology and Echocardiogram unit, and the hospital has also applied for other facilities.Another issue the chamber highlighted was the woefully slow broadband speed which was not helping to boost its image as a suitable business centre, resulting in companies preferring to keep their head office in Kuala Lumpur though have active operations in Labuan.The chamber also complained of labour shortage that was hampering the expansion and growth of business. Wong said the chamber had already made several appeals but there was no action taken.The chamber requested for a quota for few hundred workers to be employed from China, Vietnam, etc, and said it would be responsible to distribute the quota to those who required such workers. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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