'Deputy minister's visitors were from before MCO'

 

Deputy Health Minister I Noor Azmi Ghazali’s office has denied that the deputy minister had breached the movement control order (MCO) by receiving visitors at the office.

In a statement, the office said the meeting took place on Jan 12, a day before the MCO came into effect.

“Therefore, the office of the Deputy Health Minister I asks the news portals involved to immediately retract the accusations and inaccurate information they had published.

“Such false allegations could create a bad public perception towards the Deputy Minister I and the Health Ministry,” the office said in a statement today.

The officer was referring to a report by Malaysiakini and one other news portal.

Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that the deputy minister had uploaded photos showing him receiving a group of visitors at his Putrajaya office, in an apparent breach of the MCO rules.

The photos were posted on Facebook at around 1pm on Jan 13, on the first day of the renewed MCO that covers several states and territories including Putrajaya.

One picture showed at least 14 people in his office, with everyone wearing a face mask.

The caption read: “The Health Ministry. Parliamentary friends visiting the office of the Deputy Health Minister I”.

For the record, Malaysiakini had contacted Noor Azmi for clarification. The article also noted that the post did not specify when the meeting took place.

Prior to publication, the photos were removed at around 9pm.

Putrajaya and the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, as well as five states, have been placed under a full MCO.

The five states are Penang, Selangor, Malacca, Johor, and Sabah.

According to the established SOP, face-to-face meetings in the government and private agencies are prohibited.

Official and non-official ceremonies are also not allowed for both government and private agencies.

Other activities which are also temporarily banned are courses, training, conventions, and all activities related to meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.

Yesterday, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob reiterated that even politicians and VVIPs are not exempted from the SOP concerning meetings.

This is not the first time that Noor Azmi has been marred with controversy in regard to breaching SOP.

Last April, he and Perak executive council member Razman Zakaria were slapped with RM1,000 fine for flouting the MCO in Perak.

The previous incident came after he posted a series of photographs online of him and his entourage visiting a religious school in Lenggong. He had a meal with about 18 other people without practising social distancing.

On Monday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced stricter measures to flatten the Covid-19 curve after the country continuously recorded new Covid-19 cases in the four digits since November last year. This was followed by the proclamation of emergency yesterday.

Meanwhile, Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu, and Kelantan are under conditional MCO. Three zones in Sarawak, namely Kuching, Sibu, and Miri, have been placed under the conditional MCO. Perlis and the rest of Sarawak are under the recovery MCO. - Mkini