WITH many public hospitals having oxygen supply shortage due to the ever-increasing number of COVID-19 cases, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) offered a sweeping solution to the crisis.
“Putrajaya must shutdown all construction sites until end of the year to reduce competition for purified oxygen for medical usage.
“In my view, the construction of luxury condominiums, highways and malls can wait because human life is worth far more than those sectors,” its central committee member Sharan Raj told FocusM.
As daily infections are breaching the 20,000 mark, many public healthcare facilities are on edge and have sought the private sector for assistance to get equipment.
On July 23, FocusM quoted CodeBlue news portal claiming that at least 29 COVID-19 patients died on Aidiladha Day at the Ampang Hospital after oxygen pressure dropped, as the health facility was struggling to admit scores of critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring respiratory support.
According to CodeBlue’s sources, Ampang Hospital’s record number of deaths on July 20 comes on top of 23 COVID-19 fatalities reported on July 16, making it 52 deaths in two days.
The case received former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s attention, who urged the Government to investigate the matter.
On that note, Sharan said that it was nonsensical that construction sites continued to utilise purified oxygen for welding and flame-cutters, while public hospitals suffer from oxygen shortage leading to numerous deaths.
“It is unacceptable that much-needed oxygen are being utilised in construction sites while people are suffocating to death on hospital beds,” he opined.
Construction grade oxygen cylinders just need cleaning
As oxygen cylinders are already being transported using the same way household cooking gas are sent around, Sharan said the empty cylinders from the construction sector can be collected to be refilled before resupplied back to the hospitals, with proper cleaning process put in place.
“High output of purified oxygen is useless without sufficient oxygen cylinders to transport to the hospitals.
“However, the construction grade oxygen cylinders must be cleaned thoroughly to remove impurities to become medical grade oxygen cylinders. This could be done within several hours using the right equipment,” the PSM leader mentioned.
However, he said that industrial oxygen supply for emergency services such as for the Fire and Rescue Department, Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Malaysia Civil Defence Force (JPAM) should not be disrupted, as such services use industrial oxygen for flame-cutters to cut steel for rescue operations, such as road traffic accidents.
On the opposition that may come from construction players, Sharan remarked: “The construction sector is clearly a non-essential player that could not justify its need to operate for now.
“Besides, isn’t the sector one of the biggest contributor the country’s high COVID-19 cases?” – Aug 5, 2021.
Photo credit: DNA India
