KUCHING, Aug 5 – Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein is beaming with pride that the polyclinic of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) at Penrissen Camp here has become a reality.
For it was the minister who mooted the idea of a polyclinic to look after the welfare of the MAF personnel here and officiated the groundbreaking ceremony of the project way back on Nov 21, 2017.
Implemented by the Sarawak Works Department (JKR) at a cost of RM28.4 million, the polyclinic is the culmination of the ministry’s commitment, he added.
“The spirit of courage and ability of military personnel depend a lot on the treatment given to them by the government and society, especially in terms of welfare. This had and will continue to be the ministry’s priority,” he said when opening the Penrissen Camp Polyclinic.
“Therefore I urge the private sector in the oil and gas sector in Sarawak to come forward with corporate social responsibility programmes to equip the polyclinic that we have built for our personnel who have ensured stability and security in the country,” said Hishammuddin.
According to him, four more such polyclinics will be built in Sungai Petani, Kedah, Seberang Takir (Terengganu), Kluang (Johor) and Kuantan (Pahang).
MAF’s first health polyclinic in Sarawak, which was built on a 13,643 square metre site, will benefit more than 12,000 MAF members, families and veterans in Kuching and its surrounding areas to enjoy comfortable and better health facilities.
It aims to reduce dependence on the government hospital in Kuching and other MAF health centres, in addition to housing medical and dental specialist services including outpatient and ward facilities.
Its service facilities include military clinics, family health clinics, emergency units, operating theaters, inpatient wards, haemodialysis centres, rehabilitation units, dental services, public health, medical laboratories, pharmacies and imaging (X-ray).
With the operation of this polyclinic, MAF residents, families and veterans no longer need to be flown or referred to HAT (Armed Forces Hospital) or hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia to obtain the services of specialist doctors or other facilities except for certain cases only.
