KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has defended the ministry’s decision to transfer a former hospital director in Sabah to another department, following probes into sexual harassment allegations.
He said the decision to transfer this person was necessary to ensure the probes could proceed without interference.
He said while the man has been transferred to the Sabah Health Department as a medical officer, it does not amount to a demotion in terms of the officer's grade.
"This was a decision we made consciously, bearing in mind that we had conducted an internal investigation, but there will be a full investigation thereafter,” said Dzulkefly at a press conference after a joint action committee meeting on Sabah Health Development here, Monday (Aug 17).
"We are only removing him from his role as hospital director so that he does not interfere with the investigation that will be conducted," he stressed.
This followed allegations involving a hospital director here who was accused of sexually harassing a female staff member last year.
Parti Warisan had raised the issue at the recent state assembly, and the party’s health bureau chief Dr Istefan Koh had urged the ministry to take firm action on the complaint made in 2025.
On Sunday, counsel Joan Goh, who represented the former director, submitted a formal representation to the ministry to challenge the transfer, requesting an explanation of the reasons and evidence relied upon as the basis for the decision.
The lawyer questioned the state health department's authority to remove her client as hospital director before the conclusion of any disciplinary process.
