Rather than blame Pakatan Harapan, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba’s predecessor has advised him to focus on handling the Covid-19 outbreak instead.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad (above) and his former deputy Dr Lee Boon Chye said now was not the time to point fingers over the Sri Petaling cluster of infections.
Dzulkefly said Adham should instead be providing stewardship for the Health Ministry.
"Faced with a grave epidemic, the nation would like to see the minister providing stewardship and strategic leadership that can complement the role taken on by Health director-general (Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah)," he said.
Among the ways the minister could help, Dzulkefly said, was by harnessing the expertise of public health experts such as epidemiologists and infectious diseases specialists so that the government could deliver even better results in its fight against Covid-19.
He added that Adham should also be focused on helping to overcome the backlog of Covid-19 tests and exploring the use of artificial intelligence to help with mass testing and monitoring community infections as well as coordinating efforts to ensure adequate supply of personal protective equipment for frontliners.
Additionally, he said the health minister should also ensure that everyone adheres to the movement control order while also thinking up strategies to help ease the nation out of the partial shutdown.
"The minister should not be deflecting on matters such as ensuring strict observance of the MCO including by those in government by harping on a foregone issue," he said.
Deputy Health Minister Noor Azmi Ghazali has been under fire for allegedly violating the MCO after having a group meal at a tahfiz school in Lenggong, Perak yesterday.
Dzulkefly said if Adham insists on finding fault over the Sri Petaling cluster, he should be aware that approval for gatherings fall under the Home Ministry's purview, not the Health Ministry's.
In a broadcasted video call with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi earlier today, Adham said that Harapan had “failed to contain” the Sri Petaling cluster of Covid-19 cases.
The Sri Petaling tabligh gathering was held from Feb 27 to March 3.
Machinations to oust the Harapan government were set in motion on Feb 23. The government fell the next day and the country remained without a full administration until Feb 29.
Former deputy health minister Lee questioned if Adham's comment served as veiled criticism against the ministry’s long-serving director-general Noor Hisham who was overseeing the Covid-19 response while there was no government.
“Is he blaming Noor Hisham? Does he mean he did not do his work? [...]
“He was the director-general during our time and he is still the same director-general now. Whatever information of the gathering would have gone to the director-general first, not the minister.
“I would ask him (Adham) to stop the blame game and get on with work. People are not interested in (him) saying whose responsibility it is,” he said when contacted.
The Sri Petaling cluster, also known as the "tabligh cluster" accounts for more than 36 percent of the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country as of noon today.
Adham claimed the situation would have been different if this cluster was prevented.
“If the tabligh cluster was prevented, there would be no second wave. We may only have small clusters,” he said.
Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as the prime minister on March 1 while Adham and his fellow cabinet members were installed nine days later on March 10. - Mkini
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