State made remarkable progress in last 20 years – Dr Annuar

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THE state government had done tremendously well in terms of healthcare, and had made remarkable progress for the last 20 years.

Stating this during the Head of State Tun Datuk Patinggi Abang Muhammad Salahudin’s speech debate at DUN sitting on Thursday, Dr Annuar Rapa’ee (BN-Nangka) said the number of infectious diseases had decreased over the years, compared to other states in Malaysia.

“For example, while our state is huge in terms of size, we were able to contain dengue, compared to Selangor that had the highest cases of dengue. We also seldom hear of cholera outbreaks compared to states like Kelantan,” said Dr Annuar.

Dr Annuar, who is a medical practitioner before becoming an assemblyman, argued that this was due to the improvement in the standard of living in Sarawak.

“However, with the higher standard of living, the people now face an increase of non-committable disease, which is heart disease.”

He continued by saying the government was quick to address this issue by building the first Heart Hospital in Kota Samarahan, which was equipped with advanced technologies in Asia.

“Despite the opposition claim of long waiting period for patients in the new hospital, let me draw your attention to the Penang Hospital that had a longer waiting list while the state’s hospital under the opposition such as Kedah and Kelantan do not have cardiac surgeons.”

Meanwhile, Razi Sitam (BN-Saribas) supported Datu Len Talif’s (BN-Belawai) suggestion to form the Sarawak Bumiputera Economic Development Fund to assist bumiputera businessmen who faced problems in raising capital to finance their business.

“The suggestion that also includes the formation of the Sarawak Bumiputera Congress will spur growth in various businesses and industries and I am confident that the move will achieve its aim,” said Razi.

Razi also highlighted several requests made by the people in Saribas such as for more roads and housing, wider electricity and water coverage and more commercial and business areas for Debak under the 10th Malaysia Plan.