Don’t relocate Mother and Child clinic, says MP

The Mother and Child clinic at Tanjong here should not be moved to another location but instead be upgraded into a five storey building says Miri MP Dr Michael Teo.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to the facility yesterday, Dr Teo said the new location proposed for the clinic which is near Miri Hospital, is not suitable as the land is in a swampy area.

“This land and property ( Tanjong Mother and Child Clinic) has been sold by the state government and that is why the state government is allocating a piece of land behind Miri Hospital for it. But that is not a good land, it is very swampy.

“I am going to propose to the federal ministry for this place to remain as a federal building and we are going to upgrade it with better facilities,” he told reporters at the venue.

Also present to greet him was officer-in- charge of the clinic, Family Specialist Dr Chia Hui Teng. Dr Teo added that the clinic upgraded and extended into a fivestorey building at a cost of about RM50 million.

The proposed building he said would include a dental clinic, a car park as well as the District Medical Office ( DMO) as the present one would be demolished.

“Mothers and pregnant women using the clinic have been complaining that they had to wait very long, sometimes up to four or five hours for their turn to undergo medical check -up,” he said adding that with improved facilities, waiting time can be reduced.

He added that there should not be any problem with to proposal and as he will be going to Kuala Lumpur with a draft of the proposed ugrading to be submitted to the federal ministry.

“The land is big and RM50 million should be sufficient for a proper clinic that will have up-todate equipment, including at least four ultra sound machines with colours.

“We only have one ultrasound machine here and it is not in colour. With colour it will be easier to see everything clearly,

“The facilities here are far from good but we can make it better if we put our mind into it. We have the fund actually, we have a lot of fund, but somebody has to organise it,” he said.

During the visit, Dr Teo also donated a jaundice meter to the clinic. The jaundice meter is used to read jaundice level in babies without having to draw their blood. According to him, in Miri the jaundice meter which cost around RM8,960 is only available in his private clinic.

He would propose to the Federal Ministry that all goverment clinics should have them.