60 MALAYSIANS FOR FIELD HOSPITAL

We may have a rotation system, says Subra

THE government will send up to 60 Malaysian medical personnel to a newlyproposed field hospital in Bangladesh to assist Rohingya stranded at a refugee camp there.

Health Minister Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam said the medical personnel would be stationed there for as long as required.

“A rotation system might be put in place. The medical personnel are on standby.

“We have yet to confirm the site for the hospital as we are waiting for a suggestion from the Bangladeshi government,” he said at a Deepavali celebration held in Batu Caves here yesterday.

On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia would build a RM3.5 million field hospital at a refugee camp for the Rohingya, adding that the medical corps of the armed forces would build the hospital, which would initially be equipped with 50 beds and capable of taking in 50 patients.

Zahid said the government had obtained the permission of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and that Putrajaya was waiting for approval from the Bangladeshi government for the construction of the hospital.

Dr Subramaniam said the hospital would have medical staff, such as doctors, hospital assistants and nurses, and that it was expected to be operational within a month from the start of construction.

The worsening humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has resulted in the Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh each day.

The number of refugees has not been determined but many parties claim it has exceeded one million people.