Immigrants owe govt RM21.67 mil

The Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry was told that the cost of medical treatment for immigrants was higher than the RM7.7 million for Malaysians over the same period.

KOTA KINABALU: Foreign nationals owe Sabah hospitals RM21.67 million in medical bills from 2007 to 2012, the Royal Commission Of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in the state heard yesterday.

Principal assistant director of health (Communicable Diseases Control), Sabah Health Department, Dr Maria Suleiman said it involved 42,092 foreigners, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia.

The RM21.67 million should have been paid by the foreigners after completing medical treatment in hospitals and clinics but they did not pay when asked.

“When the Health Department refered payment to the addresses given, they were not there and they could not be contacted by phone.”

The 75th witness said the cost of treatment was higher than the RM7,723,839.23 for Malaysians over the same period.

Conducting officer  Azmi Arifin was told between 2000 and 2011, some 1.3 million or 53.41 percent foreigners were given outpatient treatment in Sabah hospitals.

Dr Maria said some 295,053 foreign nationals were warded over the same period. A total of 122,882 births by foreigners were also recorded.

For treatnment, the foreigners only had to bring their passport, work permit And IMM13 (temporary identification receipt) but most did not have any personal documents.

She told observer lawyer John Sikayun of Sabah Law Association that hospitals continued to treat foreigners as doctors could not turn away patients.

The inquiry was also told that the government spent RM614,355 on foreign juvenile detainees from 2007 to 2012.

It was the average cost of managing juvenile detainees at Keningau Henry Gurney School and Kota Kinabalu Henry Gurney School.

Deputy Superintendent of Kota Kinabalu Prisons Kalbin Mohd Said said the foreign detainees were from the Philippines and Indonesia.

The proceedings is being held before a five member panel headed by former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Steve Shim Lip Kiong continues tomorrow.

Other members are former Universiti Malaysia Sabah vice-chancellor Prof Dr Kamaruzaman Ampon, former Kuala Lumpur police chief Henry Chin Poy Wu, former Sabah state secretary Kee Mustafa and former Sabah deputy chief minister Herman J.Luping.

-Bernama