THE authorities should give leeway to private healthcare workers to commute to work, even if they do not have approval letters from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti), said the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA).

President Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said many private healthcare workers have complained of difficulties in commuting to work after they were stopped by the authorities for not being able to produce the letter.

He said the association received complaints despite the Health Ministry issuing a circular two days ago that private healthcare workers will only need to produce proof of their employment with the private healthcare facilities if they were stopped by the police.

“If they are still facing such issues, it can only mean these policies have not been clearly communicated to those at ground level,” he said in a statement today.

The MMA has urged the National Security Council (NSC) to take immediate action to address the issue, saying private healthcare was also the responsibility of the ministry and that it too provided front-line services.

He said the private healthcare workers must be allowed to continue with their journey upon producing relevant documents at roadblocks. 

“Private clinics, hospitals and dental clinics are registered with the Ministry of Health and provide frontline services.

“Many private healthcare practitioners are also involved in mass screening on-site and at times will be required to cross districts.

“Permission should be given for them to proceed upon showing the police the required documents,” he said, adding that he hopes that the government will give necessary support to the private healthcare workforce to carry out their duties for the rakyat.

The MMA’s complaint follows an array of U-turns made by the government to provide approvals to travel during the first phase of the total lockdown, from June 1 to June 14.

Initially, in announcing the standard operating procedure on Sunday, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that approval letters to travel for work must be directed to the ministry concerned.

However, the NSC later said all approval letters either for businesses to operate or travel will come from a one-stop centre overseen by Miti.

Yesterday, Miti said 517,144 companies applied through the Covid-19 intelligent management system (CIMS), of which 95,142 companies had obtained the approval to operate. – June 2, 2021.