It is time for Muhyiddin to fulfil his Sabah election pledge and channel all resources to fight Sabah as the hotspot state in the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia
I am disappointed that the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin has not summoned an emergency zoom meeting of his Cabinet on the grave situation of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia although he is in home quarantine until Oct. 16,
Yesterday, a specialist with the Health Ministry wrote an anonymous letter to Malaysiakini lamenting that “the many months of hard work since the first movement control order (MCO) has been taken for granted and thrown away”.
This has sparked a response from the Health Director-General Dr. Hisham Noor Abdullah, which does not detract in any way from the central message of the “specialist” to the Prime Minister, i.e. Wake up, enough talk, take action!
The Prime Minister must be red-faced and must act as he cannot hide behind the coat-tails of the Health Director-General.
He must lead from the front and deliver election pledges which he made in the Sabah state general election campaign only last month.
During the Sabah general elections, Muhyiddin made three visits to Sabah in 14 days, and pledged that Sabah will get more help if the state is aligned with the Federal Government and as Sabah needs a state government that is capable of helping to ease the people’s burden in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Muhyiddin has in fact reneged on his Sabah election pledge when he allowed Sabah to plunge into the horrendous third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
From Sept. 1 to October 11, Sabah has 3,921 Covid-19 cases – which is a shocking 25 per cent of the 15,657 cases Malaysia has had from the beginning. There have been 33 deaths which is 21 per cent of the total of 157 deaths so far.
From the poorest state in Malaysia, Sabah has become the worst-affected Covid-19 state.
Is this what Muyhiddin promised the people of Sabah?
The severity of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sabah is crystal clear when it is noted that when the MCO was first imposed in Malaysia on March 18, Malaysia had 790 cases and two deaths, after registring 117 new cases in the previous 24 hours.
The Covid-19 situation in Sabah is many times more serious, registering three-digit figures in since Oct. 1 ranging from the lowest of daily increase of 113 cases on Oct. 2 to 488 cases yesterday.
Some 788 Covid-19 cases in Sabah were recorded in the 12-day period of the Sabah state general election from Sept. 12 to Sept 26, which went on to increase by leaps and bounds to total 2,783 Covid-19 cases in Sabah in the last 15 days since Polling Day.
Although Muhyiddin’s home quarantine expires on Oct. 16, I want to reiterate my call on him to summon an emergency zoom meeting of his Cabinet to channel all resource to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in Sabah.
I endorse the specialist’s call to Muhyiddin to “wake up” and to stop ignoring the advice from the Health Ministry and to ensure that Ministers and many top officials follow the SOP and to haul up the VIPs who do not comply with the SOP including removing them from office.
Will Muhyiddin start with the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Khairruddin Aman Razali?