Overloaded express boat and Flying Doctor Service

This photos were taken last week onboard one of the express boat plying Miri to Marudi.

2009-10-10-EXPRESS-01

Only a handful of the students are using their life jacket. Are the teachers who are responsible for their safety busy giving motivation talk (as recommended by a minister, that, students-parents motivation are best done by teachers and not by NGOs)?

2009-10-10-EXPRESS-02

Or, do we need for something bad to happen before the authority start to act again, and the press starts to highlight all the measures taken to curb this issue. Later, 3 months down the road, it comes back to square one!

2009-10-10-EXPRESS-03

Where are the regular check by the authority on this express boat? Is their Passenger Safety Certificate still valid? Are there enough life jacket onboard for everyone? Too much question, too little answer, less monitoring (no budget la tu..).

Flying Doctor Service

2009-10-10-EXPRESS-04

This patient needs urgent medical treatment. The FDS is no where available and the patient will need to take a 3-hour express boat ride to reach the nearest medical centre. The FDS is an ancient issue in Sarawak. The rakyat are caught in between the operators and the government, tender pricing, etc. Kalau harga itu terlalu rendah (which is most preferrable by the government) of course lah we get poor service. If the government do not solve this, of course lah pot pet sana sini!

Maybe (just maybe and I perceive it that way).. the people in the Health Dept. have been there for too long! Look at FDS, look at the Sri Aman health issues… apa cerita sudah jadi? Satu bos mauk ini, rakyat mauk itu.. itu ini sana sini.. rakyat merinsa! Selamat Hari Raya to all Sri Aman residents yang beramah tamah dengan YAB Pehin Sri minggu ini. Itu spital Lubok Antu kena dipikir-pikirkan juga.. wahai Jabatan Kesihatan.