Poon: Why replace firm handling foreigners’ medical exam with outdated West Malaysian company?
13 Oct 2021
By Ilona Andrew
SANDAKAN: Sabah DAP Chief Datuk Frankie Poon Ming Fung questioned the government’s move to replace Teguh Niagamaju Sdn Bhd, a firm that handled medical examinations for foreign workers, with an outdated West Malaysia company that does not understand the locals’ needs and sentiments with costlier charges.
“It was reported in New Strait Times on Oct 10, that Qhazanah Sabah Berhad chief communications officer Muhammad Khairulnizam Hasnan said ‘a more secure and efficient process in the medical examination of Sabah’s foreign workers is on the cards under the state-owned WH Medicare Sdn Bhd.’
“I was shocked to learn that the Qhazanah Sabah Berhad will be implementing the biometric system in their system in order to make them more secure and efficient,” he said in a statement, yesterday.
Poon who is also the assemblyman for Tanjong Papat said as he recalled, Teguh Niagamaju Sdn Bhd had already implemented the biometric as one of the manners to identify workers and to avoid the practice of “hanky-panky”.
This system, he added, was implemented to avoid the possibility of unqualified workers from either coming into Sabah to work or to send back unhealthy workers to where they come from. This should help to avoid and prevent diseases from being passed and infect the healthy population.
“The charges by Teguh Niagamaju were also cheaper in comparison. By comparison, I believe Teguh Niagamaju were far in advance in dealing with a medical checkup for foreign workers for the protection of the Sabah population as well as establishing an efficient system of dealing with foreign workers for all stakeholders and far cheaper than the current pricing.
“It also worked well with companies who needed to engage foreign workers … Is this what the State Government meant when they chose the theme ‘Sabah Maju Jaya’?”
