Anwar says higher fines burden rakyat, points to ‘double standards’

 

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has criticised Putrajaya’s plan to raise penalties for standard operating procedures (SOPs) breaches, pointing out the hypocrisy in enforcement.

While he agreed with tighter SOPs, he expressed doubt over whether higher fines will help curb the spread of Covid-19.

“I think to strike a balance between health (and the economy), we need stricter SOPs, not heavier penalties.

“Heavier penalties give rise to cynicism and suspicions because the penalties are double standards.

“Leaders who break them are not punished but the people are,” he said during the 'Covid-19 and State Preparedness' online discussion aired on his Facebook page.

International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali was previously criticised for breaching interstate travel restrictions after he travelled to Johor for a flood relief event. 

He was also photographed seated with others at a table with packed food when dining in is not allowed under movement control order (MCO) SOPs.

Azmin later said his trip had been sanctioned by the National Security Council.

Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa also came under fire after he posted a photograph of himself taking a walk outdoors in a group of three. MCO SOPs allow only a maximum of two people to jog together outdoors at a time.

Annuar later explained that he had run into his two friends coincidently while each was on their solo walks.

Just last week, eight villagers from rural Tenom, Sabah were fined RM1,000 each after they boarded an over-capacity bus into town to purchase necessary food and medicine.

The bus driver who ferried them said he had allowed them to board the full bus out of compassion. He also pleaded with the police to fine him alone and not his passengers.

Threatening the poor

Under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, SOP breaches incur a maximum RM1,000 fine or a six-month jail term or both.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin did not stipulate how much the fine will be increased in his announcement this afternoon, only that repeat offenders will have to pay more and some SOP violators will be jailed.

Elaborating, the PKR president said higher fines will burden the poor.

“They (the government) want to intimidate the poor if they want to raise the RM1,000 fine to RM1,500, for example.

“All this brings new calamities to the rakyat,” Anwar said.

Harapan state chiefs

Anwar’s discussion featured three Pakatan Harapan state executives discussing methods to combat Covid-19.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari shared that his government has expanded testing at factories in an effort to pre-empt outbreaks.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari

He proposed using community centres as quarantine centres, especially for those whose living quarters were not conducive for home quarantine.

“There are many urban poor who live in places like people’s housing projects (PPR) that have three or two small rooms.

“It is impossible for them to perform home quarantine [...] these PPR homes are not suitable at all,” he said.

Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow suggested that “pool testing” be used to allow more factory workers to be tested at a lower cost.

Pool testing, also known as batch testing, is a method where laboratories combine swab samples from several people and test them for Covid-19 all at once. If the virus is detected, each person from that batch is tested a second time but analysed individually.

Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun shared that his government’s move to use hotels as quarantine centres had managed to curb the virus from spreading.

He opined that Covid-19 vaccinations should begin in the Klang Valley before it is expanded nationwide.

Aminuddin said this would help break the chain of transmission as Covid-19 infections were most concentrated in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. - Mkini