House Commission IX questions new health minister appointment

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 10/22/2009 1:20 PM  |  National

House of Representatives Commission IX on Health and Welfare Affairs is questioning the motives behind the sudden appointment of Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih as the new health minister.
 
"The replacement for Siti Fadilah as the health minister was supposed to be Nila Moeloek. However, Nila was said to have some issues in her health test results," House Commission IX chairwoman Ribka Tjiptaning from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said in Jakarta on Thursday.
 
"The question is that Nila was not the only one who failed the test. Some five or six minister candidates are said to have failed the test. So, why was Nila the only one who to be replaced?" she asked.
 
Many deem that Endang's appointment was the result of the United States' interference due to her contribution in the Naval Medical Research Unit (Namru-2) project.
 
Siti issued a statement that Endang, who used to be one of the health ministry's researchers, is the staff who has the most involvement with the Namru-2 project.
 
The project itself is filled with controversies. Originated in 1970, the project is a joint research to study virus strings to be developed for the United States navy and defense ministry.
 
The project officially ended in 2000, however, research still continued until 2005, the time when Siti stopped the project altogether.
 
Siti also revealed that Endang once brought a virus string abroad without having a permission from her during her ministerial reign.(hdt)

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