KUCHING: A 13-year-old boy, who has been diagnosed with Japanese Encephalitis (JE) when he was a boarder of a school in 2006, is now suing the school and the school principal for more than RM1 million in damages for allegedly failing to ensure that the school environment was safe and healthy.
The Education Ministry and the Health Ministry as well as the federal and state governments were named as co-defendants.
The plaintiff is claiming that the defendants failed to take all reasonable steps to protect him and other children of the boarding school from the ‘deadly’ viral attack in 2006.
According to the boy, the school is situated just next to a pig farm.
The first session of the hearing in the Sessions Court here started on Monday and ended yesterday.
The next hearing will be from Oct 7 to 10.
The boy’s 43-year-old father is suing the six defendants on his behalf.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Shankar Ram, has called six witnesses, namely two virologists, three health experts and one high ranking official from the Health Ministry to support the minor’s claim.
At least five more witnesses, including the boy’s parents, would be called during the next hearing session.
The boy was a fee-paying student of the boarding school.
After a weekend break on Sept 24, 2006, he was placed under the care and supervision of the teacher and principal.
On Sept 27, 2006, the boy claimed that a teacher and the principal sent him home and left him there, unattended.
The next day, his father got to know of his ‘serious fever’ and the boy was taken to a district hospital, where the doctors suspected him of having contracted JE.
The boy was subsequently referred to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) here which confirmed that he had contracted JE.
The suit also stated that as a result of the viral attack the boy sustained “significant dysfunction of the brain and therefore he is now permanently disabled, both physically and mentally, with serious neurological deficit.”
The suit also referred to various articles from the website which was summed up as:
“In early 1999, Malaysia as a whole experienced a major outbreak of the viral attack. Human vaccination is the only method that has been proven effective against the viral attack.
JE occurred in most Asian countries because countries such as China, Malaysia and Taiwan are the main exporters of pork in Asia that still practised the traditional ways of rearing pigs.
The farmers who are still using the old ways did not vaccinate their pigs even though the farms are built in areas of known JE activity. Staff who work in these farms are lacking of vaccination, too.
These farmers also did not invest in treatment plants to clear effluents because the traditional ways can help them cut down their costs and contribute to higher profitability.
As a result of using the traditional ways, the rivers are clogged with pig wastes because those farmers just ‘dump everything’ into the river. The clogged rivers then become the perfect place for culex mosquito to breed.
To make the situation worse, those farmers and workers do not wear any protection gear such as masks, aprons and gloves during their daily work in the pig farms making them an easy target for culex mosquito.
The majority of these farmers also stay near the pig farms. This also contributes to the spread of the disease. To summarise the whole scenario, the spread of this disease is because of poor management and condition of the pig farms.
The case is presided by Sessions Court Judge Sharizat Ismail.
Angkat tangan siapa ingin jadi Pengetua?
2. Saya ingat orang politik yang banyak saman menyaman. Rupanya golongan guru pun boleh kena saman. Bayangkan kerja yang perlu Pengetua ini buat untuk menjawab apa juga perkara yang dibangkitkan di mahkamah nanti. Sekolah akan ditanya tentang apa yang sekolah telah buat dan tidak buat. Pengetua boleh bercakap itu dan ini. Mahkamah tidak akan percaya sehingga ada dokumen sokongan. Contoh dokumen nanti ialah nota / minit perhimpunan dengan pelajar yang menyatakan nasihat sekolah kepada pelajar. Bayangkan Pengetua, yang merasa telah "berbakti" kepada sekolah selama ini, akhirnya kena saman ... oleh pelajarnya sendiri! Sudah tentu Pengetua merasa bahawa penyakit ini adalah di luar kawalannya, tetapi mahkamah ingin tahu apa yang sekolah telah buat untuk mengelakkan penyakit tersebut. Ini bukan kes main-main!
3. Nanti pelajar boleh saman sekolah kerana dia dijangkiti H1N1, patah kaki kerana bermain bola, kena jangkitan kuman kerana terpijak paku berkarat di asrama, pelajar jatuh tingkap, pelajar cedera kerana bergaduh, dan seribu satu kemungkinan di sekolah, apa tah lagi di asrama. Kalau pelajar menyusup keluar waktu malam, dan cedera di luar, adalah sekolah masih di anggap cuai kerana tidak mengawal pergerakan pelajar? Kalau pelajar ponteng dan jatuh dari rumah kosong di luar sekolah, adakah sekolah cuai kerana tidak memaklumkan ibu bapa bahawa anaknya ponteng pagi tersebut?
4. Bagaimana kalau satu hari nanti, guru disaman oleh ibu bapa kerana anaknya gagal dalam peperiksaan awam, kerana guru cuai dalam mendidik sehingga pelajar gagal. Boleh terjadi? Ada doktor yang disaman kerana pembedahan yang gagal!
-- Thank you. Wishing you a prosperous day.
Hj Rambli Zainudin
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