Still no Covid-19 law despite Putrajaya's 'focus on pandemic' message

 

A Covid-19 bill passed by both houses of Parliament in August and September to help ease the people's burden against the pandemic has yet to be gazetted into law.

Lawyer Syahredzan Johan (above) said this was on top of the fact that Putrajaya was late in drafting the Temporary Measures for Government Financing (Coronavirus Disease 2019 [Covid-19]) Bill 2020 and sending it to Parliament for approval.

"Even though all quarters agree that the law is important and necessary, the bill was criticised as insufficient in protecting people impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the country.

"The federal government was also criticised for being too late in tabling the bill when many other countries already have such a law in early 2020 when the pandemic first started.

"Unfortunately, the bill has yet to be gazetted and has not yet become law," Syahredzan said in a statement.

The political secretary to DAP's Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said it has been seven months since the country first went into a movement control order (MCO) in March, when the second wave of Covid-19 cases hit the country.

Country already facing third wave

"Now, the country is already facing the third wave and recording three digits of new cases daily.

"A conditional MCO has also been imposed on Sabah, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, which will surely have a major impact on the people.

"Therefore, the bill, despite its weaknesses, would still provide some relief and protection to the people if it is gazetted," he added.

Syahredzan questioned why such an important bill had yet to be gazetted.

"The federal government does not appear to be taking this seriously," he said.

Syahredzan acknowledged that there is a legal process before a bill is gazetted but in this case, he said it should be expedited, considering the situation.

"To reduce the people's burden, the federal government is urged to immediately gazette and enforce the bill," he said.

The Covid-19 bill was approved by the Dewan Rakyat on Aug 25 and was passed by the Dewan Negara on Sept 22.

However, a check with the federal gazette today confirmed that it has yet to be gazetted, the final process needed to be done before it becomes law.

In contrast, Singapore approved and gazetted its Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 in April, six months ago. - Mkini