Protest held against impending closure of city’s first treatment centre

By FLORENCE A. SAMY and JASTIN AHMAD TARMIZI newsdesk@thestar.com.my 10th April 2011

KUALA LUMPUR: The impending closure of the city’s first dialysis centre run by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has left patients in a quandary.

The kidney patients have been told the centre in Jalan Hang Lekiu will close its doors at the end of the month due to licensing problems.

Exasperated patients, some of whom have been seeking treatment at the centre for over 12 years, staged a protest outside the centre yesterday over the move.

With little money in their pockets, the patients who are mostly senior citizens get subsidised treatment three times a week at the centre, which opened in 1993. More than 40 are currently seeking dialysis treatment there.

“Please help us. We do not want to move. This place is in a strategic location as it is in town with public transport nearby. We cannot afford to travel far,” said amputee A. Kolendaisamy, 60.

NKF chief executive officer Chua Hong Wee said their hands were tied as their registration certificate, which expired last August, was not renewed by the Health Ministry due to safety reasons.

“We have been looking for a suitable location over the last six months but to no avail. It is too expensive to rent in this area as an NGO. We have exhausted all our avenues,” he explained.

The centre is located at the National Welfare Foundation’s Bangunan Ehsan which has been used since late last month as a temporary shelter for the homeless.

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