Concerns about Putrajaya’s crisis management have manifested just days into the lockdown, sparking another round of fierce criticism of its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Strange decisions have made the aberrant the commonplace. Anger and bitterness are the new normal.
Putrajaya’s attempt to wrench the nation out of misery and race against time to immunise our population has revealed a litany of policy weaknesses.
It has triggered a national nervous breakdown. Only the government cannot see it.
The people are angry because the government has again fallen terribly short of the standards that the public has a right to expect.
The sense of fear stalking Malaysians has risen dramatically as the current wave of the pandemic has overwhelmed the country’s hospitals and claimed a record number of victims.
It’s visceral fear when the vaccine drive is in disarray and a total lockdown is unlocked by questionable decisions.
Malaysia can’t handle pandemics. For instance, the decision to allow 128,150 companies, with some 1.57 million employees, to operate during the June 1 to 14 total lockdown is a reckless one.
That some non-essential services have slipped through the international trade and industry ministry’s (Miti) vetting process is equally careless.
It came as a surprise when senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob passed the buck to Miti minister Azmin Ali to explain the confusion. The exchanges that followed between them smack of factionalism.
Nothing in place now promises a reversal in the upward trend of infections and deaths, and the vaccine rollout remains at a snail’s pace. As of Tuesday, 2,002,345 Malaysians had received their first dose while 1,104,873 have had both.
The inoculation campaign has exposed a system that is slow, at times overly bureaucratic. Red tape and logistics issues have hindered the participation of private general practitioners (GPs) in the vaccine drive. Only 2,467 of the 8,000 private and specialist clinics have registered with the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).
On Tuesday, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) launched a scathing attack on vaccine coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin, accusing him of ignoring GPs in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
What made the MMA broadside striking was the claim by its president Dr Subramaniam Muniandy that a March 2 letter to Khairy to meet on plans for GPs to be involved in PICK went unanswered.
It’s a huge mistake that 7,000 GPs and 1,000 specialist clinics weren’t brought into the vaccination campaign early on when there is a family doctor on virtually every corner, making it quicker to achieve herd immunity.
MMA honorary secretary Dr R Arasu said many GPs were reluctant to join PICK as vaccinators because of the cumbersome hurdles facing them.
These include red tape, lack of clarity, administrative work and the requirement for them to collect the vaccines from storage sites, as opposed to having a supplier delivering them to clinics.
Arasu said it was more cost effective for the government to engage GPs rather than set up vaccination centres (PPV).
It’s a no-brainer as such centres entail charges for setting-up, manpower, crowd control and training, whereas at clinics it would cost a RM14 fee per dose administered, estimated at 240,000 doses per day for 8,000 clinics.
While the MMA and Khairy jab each other with their respective views on a vital element of mass vaccination, Malaysians continue to agonise over when their shot will come.
It doesn’t help that booking websites routinely crash. It creates anguish when overcrowding at mega PPVs pose a super-spreader risk.
Many senior citizens were caught in the mayhem at an overcrowded Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre on Wednesday, drawing comments that it not only showed disrespect for the elderly but also illustrated bad planning.
Silliness tends to be everywhere, even at government departments. On Monday, a large unruly crowd jostled to get 50 queue numbers to settle their summons with a 70% discount at the Road Transport Department in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur.
Who in their right mind would make an offer that promotes overcrowding during dangerous times? That’s another reason why we are where we are – helpless, exhausted and furious.
Screengrab of overcrowding at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre on Wednesday.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
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