KUCHING: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen was told to stop acting as if he is a hero.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) deputy chairman Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah suggested that Chong should check his behaviour while the Covid-19 pandemic is going on.
Abdul Karim stressed that he had yet to hear anything good coming from Chong’s mouth on all efforts of the frontliners and the state government.
“Does Chong think that unpacking 50 tonnes of PPE (personal protective equipment) and distributing them to more than 30 hospitals statewide can be done in one or two days?” he said to New Sarawak Tribune yesterday.
“It’s easy to criticise and point fingers which is what Chong is doing right now.”
He was referring to Chong’s recent claim that despite the shipment from China, hospitals in the state are still short of equipment.
Chong claimed that the main cause of the problem was distribution delay.
Abdul Karim reassured that the state government, Health Department, SDMC, and frontliners were doing their best at all times to address the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The state government even spent its own money to purchase the PPEs and chartered a plane to transport the equipment to the state.
“But here comes Chong, acting like a ‘mandor’ pointing his fingers here and there claiming that this and that are not done. This is not the right thing to do,” he said.
The Tourism, Art, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister also reminded Chong about the difficulties of addressing problems on the ground.
“(Chong) has served as a minister before. He should be aware of these problems,” said Abdul Karim.
It was also noted that on Saturday (Apr 18), SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas announced that the state had allocated RM6.5 million for purchasing PPEs.
He said the PPEs had been received and distributed to all 36 health facilities throughout the state.
