Revoke work permits, student passes of those who ignore quarantine, says party

The Sarawak United Peoples’ Party says action must be taken against those who break quarantine or segregation rules. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: A political party has called for the cancellation of work permits and student passes of foreigners who fail to practise self-quarantine on their return from China following the Covid-19 epidemic.

The Sarawak United Peoples’ Party said the state government must strictly enforce its directive of self-quarantine imposed on individuals who had visited China in the past 14 days.

Its youth secretary-general, Milton Foo, said the government should also send officers to conduct spot checks on these foreigners to ensure they comply with the directive of the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (JPBN).

“Those who fail to practise self quarantine or segregation at the premises provided should be blacklisted and their work permits or student passes revoked, followed by repatriation,” Foo said.

Similarly, he said, Sarawakians and Malaysian citizens who return from China and fail to go on self-quarantine should be hauled to court and fined and forced to undergo quarantine.

Foo also proposed the use of indelible ink on those who had returned from countries affected by Covid-19 for the purpose of identification.

It is the duty of Sarawakians to work with the state government to contain the outbreak, he said, adding that they should report to the authorities if they knew of people breaking the quarantine order.

Yesterday, it was reported that there were 80 patients under investigation in the state since Jan 10. Of the total, 64 had tested negative while 16 were pending laboratory results.- FMT