Health Ministry given two months to address PAC report and reply

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry will have two months to get back to the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on addressing the shortcomings in managing the Covid-19 outbreak.

"The PAC will be issuing a letter to the Health Ministry and give the ministry two months to answer the five recommendations which the committee had given," PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin told reporters at a press conference on Thursday (Nov 2).

Following this, she said the PAC will hold a meeting to determine if the recommendations were implemented before tabling in Parliament.

"The rakyat can evaluate the actions taken by the government with regard to the recommendations raised by the PAC to see if the government is truly serious in their actions," she added.

ALSO READ: Covid-19 vaccine doses worth RM505mil expired as of June 1, PAC says

On Oct 30, the PAC tabled a report in Parliament revealing the procurement of unusable ventilators via WhatsApp, expiry of vaccines and over purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE).

A total of 104 out of the 136 ventilators supplied by Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd (PLSB) to the Health Ministry in May 2020 at a cost of RM24.1mil ended up being unusable.

The PAC also found that a total of 8.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses worth RM505mil had expired as of June 15 this year.

The committee also said that 850,000 PPE boot covers, worth RM927,000, must be used before the end of 2024.

ALSO READ: PAC aims to table Covid-19 management probe report during Oct-Nov Parliament session

Among the recommendations of the bi-partisan committee is that the ministry re-examines the warranty status of the 136 ventilators and to take action against those responsible.

The committee also recommended that excess PPE boots covers are put to use before their expiry date.

The ministry was also told to ensure proper documentation for transactions even during times of emergency.

ALSO READ: Govt procured ventilators via WhatsApp during Covid-19 pandemic, says PAC

Meanwhile, Mas Ermieyati said that the PAC report is clear that the shortcomings occurred during the tenure of former health minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.

She was asked to comment on former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin's statement on his weekly podcast "Keluar Sekejap" on Wednesday (Nov 1) that he did not want to "pass the buck" to anyone but the ventilators were purchased before he helmed the ministry.

However, he admitted that the procurement of 83 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines occurred during his tenure as health minister.