THE Penang government has written to the Federal Government, expressing its views of not accepting medical tourists for the time being.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that Penang State Secretary Datuk Abdul Razak Jaafar had sent a letter to the Malaysia Immigration Department on Aug 18. Abdul Razak sent the letter after a meeting with the Technical Committee.
“The minister (Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) had said that the states can and are required to write to the Federal Government for the Federal Government to make a decision.
“We have done that, and we hope that the Federal Government will consider the views of the Penang government,” Chow told a press conference at his office today.
Ismail Sabri had said that state governments are not allowed to impose their own regulations on social and business activities as these would be superseding the Federal Government.
He was quoted as saying that Penang’s decision to stop the entry of medical tourists to the state might only be enforced if gazetted and approved by the Health Ministry.
“When a state government introduces a law which is not approved by the National Security Council and the Health Ministry, then the said law cannot be enforced. If the state government enforces their own and action has been taken, they can be challenged in court,” Ismail Sabri reportedly said.
Chow said that the state understood and knew that it is the Federal Government that decides on such policy matter.
“We know that we have to comply with the Federal’s decision. That is why, in our statement, we stated that we want the Federal Government to consider our views to temporarily stop allowing medical tourists into Penang.
“We were caught unprepared. The decision (to allow medical tourists into Penang) was made without informing us.
“Although the matter comes under the Federal’s jurisdiction, I feel that the state as the receiving end, should be informed,” Chow commenting on the incident which occurred on Aug 14.
It was reported that Indonesian medical tourists were flown into Penang last Friday (Aug 14).
Chow said that accepting the views of state governments was nothing new.
“The various state governments have given views regarding policy decision since the early implementation of the movement control order (MCO) in March.
“However, the state governments are not invited to every meeting and we are not privy to all decisions. So, when things happen, it is the responsibility of the state government to give its input,” he said.
Chow said that the state understood that the Federal Government had already worked out the standard operating procedure (SOP) on the matter (medical tourism).
“We would appreciate that the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), the hospital and the airline concerned can do a ‘communication exercise’ to explain to the people, why or whether it is safe to allow patients to come to Malaysia to seek treatment; instead of what happened last week when we were not informed and the patients arrived at our shore,” he said.
Chow said that the State Secretary receives weekly reports on the number of flights arriving Penang.
“However, the information does not include all the details such as whether they are returning Malaysians or medical patients.
“We have no information pertaining to that. We hope that the relevant agencies will take note of what happened in Penang last week and if necessary, explain it so that the people can understand,” he added.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Alissala Thian
Video by Law Suun Ting