I submitted an Emergency Motion under Standing Order 18(1) requesting the Speaker of the House to allow a discussion on matters involving matters of public interest with regards to the spread of Rabies in Sarawak and the claims by Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who leads the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee that the Federal Government has put on hold the sending of Veterinarians to assist in our fight against Rabies.
The procedure requires me to submit it to Speakers office before the session starts this morning for the Speaker to make a ruling whether they will suspend government business on the day and allow the discussion to take place in the House tomorrow (after 24hours).
Since this issue involves public interest not just in Sarawak, but if preventive measures are not done and carried out properly, it not only can spread further to other locations including other States, but also infect more members of public, including our children.
We are getting conflicting reports of the seriousness of the issue where on one hand the State government and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee continuously claims that the situation is under control and the spread has been controlled.
Reports on the ground and the constant spread of the disease throughout the State speaks differently on the effectiveness and urgency on the matter, which calls into question the strategy that is being implemented. We are receiving reports that dog bites have not decreased, and population control has not achieved its target. On top of that, some standards based on the WHO recommendations are not followed. And now, the deputy Chief Minister he seems to push the blame on the Federal Government on the matter.
Thus, I am pushing for a solution to be discussed in parliament including getting the different relevant Ministries to answer and getting a better picture of the situation especially with regards to the real reason if such claims are true. While the Federal Government should be accountable and transparent towards the situation, I also urge the State government to be more up front and honest with the real situation with regards to the rabies outbreak that has spread to many places and so far, has claimed 10 lives. Politics aside, we should discuss to come up with a proper solution on the matter especially that it involves the lives of our people.
I also hold on to my call for a transparent external audit to be done on the current rabies control efforts by the Committee so that we can identify what needs to be done and know what has been done before as well as to scrutinise it based on international guidelines.