Closure of government clinic at Nanga Bena four years ago forced people there to travel to Kapit for basic medical treatment
FRUSTRATED: Ngebong giving the four-finger-up to show that RM40 is too much for a panadol.
KAPIT: Panadol (paracetamol) are dispensed free at government clinics and hospitals in the state, but for some 2,000 people from 16 longhouses at Nanga Bena, about 40km from here, there is an exorbitant hidden cost of RM40 for this common painkiller and fever medication.
Forty ringgit is the return fare to travel from their longhouses to the government hospital here.
The situation was not always this bad for these rural folk because there used to be a government clinic at Nanga Bena, within walking distance of most of the longhouses.
However, on Sept 9, 2008, the clinic was closed because the erosion had threatened the structure of its building.
The people were not perturbed by the closure initially because they thought it would just be a temporary inconvenience and something would be done to reopen the clinic.
But after almost four years their patience has turned to frustration, and last Wednesday a group of elders from the community approached thesundaypost to appeal to the government to re-open the clinic as soon as possible.
They said many of them could not afford the fare to the hospital here for medical treatment, especially during emergency cases.
In the last four years, they claimed that some lives could have been saved if the clinic was not closed.
One particular incident which they relate was a case of a one-year old girl who died on the way to Kapit hospital due to high fever.
They said if the clinic was still in operation, the girl’s life could have been saved.
GRASSROOTS FEEDBACK: Ugak (red shirt with cap on the left) with the longhouse folk at the abandoned Ng Bena clinic which has been closed down for four years.
JKKK chairman of Rh Mikai, Ngebong Semada said the reason for the closure of the clinic, which was built in 1978, was justified but there seem to be no effort to reopen it.
What puzzled the people there is that the clinic is still standing without sign of further erosion to other parts of the compound.
“All they need to do is to build a proper culvert to channel the water from a small stream at the back of the clinic straight to the river downhill instead of letting the water to flow across the back of the clinic, which had caused erosion in the first place.
“Now when I think back, their judgment to close down the clinic was a bad decision,” Ngebong said.
He said now if anybody were to see a doctor, the person would have to look for transport and have to fork out at least RM40 to get to Kapit hospital.
“Most of us are farmers, so how could we afford such a hefty sum just to get to the Kapit hospital just for simple medication such as panadol? This isn’t fair to us,” he lamented.
Rumah Juntan’s deputy tuai rumah Gasing Salang said, it was really unfair to let the clinic to remain closed while the condition was still good.
“The whole land where the clinic was built was leveled from solid ground. So there shouldn’t be any reason for the soil to further erode. But if the authorities think that it is really unsafe, then do something about it and not just let it rot and we have to suffer the consequences,” he pointed out.
Gasing, who has high blood appealed to the health department to quickly restore the operation of the clinic as it was really too costly for him to go down to Kapit each time he needed his medication.
He further vented his frustration by saying that though the late Tun Temenggong Jugah, who hailed from here, one of the signatories of the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Kapit as a whole has not get a fair deal of development from the government.
“Just look at our road. It’s still in deplorable condition as most of them are still gravel. This aggravates the situation we are in. There have been cases when our pregnant women gave birth while on the way to Kapit hospital,” he revealed.
Tr Undi Langkau, who works in the clinic as a boatman before he moved to Kapit hospital said all the staff had since been transferred to Kapit hospital.
Before its closure the clinic was opened 24-hours a day and manned by eight staff comprising a medical assistant, two nurses, attendants and other support staff.
Tr Gasing Lebah from Sg Sut also appealed to the government to reopen the clinic urgently so that the people could get basic medical care without having to pay the RM40 ringgit fare.
“We are simple folks, we do not want to argue with the government but our patience has run out and we are now in desperation for better medical care and health service. So please help us,” he appealed.
Mala Jelani who was rather emotional and angry said the government should not let them down any longer and should reopen the clinic.
“We are not asking too much. All we are asking for is for the clinic to be reopened so that we don’t have to suffer like this,” she said.
Meanwhile, Wilson Ugak, the private secretary to Senior Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing who visited the abandoned clinic on Thursday said he would bring up the matter to the relevant authorities and urged the people to remain patient.
“I promised to highlight your plight to the relevant authorities. In the worst case scenario, what the government could do is to send a medical team here and man the clinic on an office-hours basis from Kapit,” he suggested.
Ugak, who is keen to contest for Hulu Rajang under the BN also take the opportunity to urge the people to continue to support the current government in the coming general election.
Masing, when contacted yesterday, urged the Health Department to provide at least health care during office hours at Nanga Bena so that the people will not be deprived anymore. “It’s ridiculous for the them to pay so much for simple medication like panadol,” he said.