Government scraps e-Kesihatan plan

Star: SHAH ALAM: The Cabinet has agreed to scrap a controversial plan that would have allowed a private company to run medical check-ups on commercial vehicle drivers.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said the Cabinet in a recent meeting gave its consent to discontinue the agreement with the company, Supremme Systems Sdn Bhd.
He said the scheme, e-Kesihatan, was re­­ferred back to the Road Transport Department (JPJ) for recasting.
The whole scheme has to be re-studied, including the clause and details of the agreement as well as its legal implications, he added.
“We insist there should not be any form of monopoly even if it is for a good cause,” he told reporters after the naming ceremony of Jalan Multimedia in i-City yesterday.
I-City is a RM2bil integrated commercial development on a 29ha site in Section 7 here.
Ong said the Government wanted something that served the public’s purpose, by ensuring medical certification for all commercial vehicle drivers without burdening them.
The original e-Kesihatan programme, which was to have started on Oct 1 last year, would have seen medical check-up results of the drivers being electronically transmitted from panel clinics and laboratories to JPJ.
The JPJ would then issue or renew a licence once the medical check-up result was seen. Supreme Systems was also allowed to maintain a database of the drivers.
The move to appoint Supreme Systems, a limited number of panel clinics and the high fees for check-ups drew criticism from the Malaysia Medical Association and associations representing the commercial vehicle drivers.
He said the ministry also wanted to ensure the clause really matched the purpose of the scheme and if the various medical tests carried out would help to reduce road accidents.
Ong said the Government would leave it to the JPJ to make a new proposal.