BN event attended by PM slapped with RM20k fine

 

MALACCA POLLS | The organiser of a BN event which Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob attended has been slapped with a RM20,000 fine for violating the standard operating procedure (SOP), according to a Jasin health district officer.

The compound was issued to the BN head of the Asahan polling centre over an event organised at Medan Selera Selandar, the New Straits Times (NST) quoted a Jasin health officer as saying.

“The fine was issued to the organiser for failing to ensure social distancing. That’s all I can say,” the officer told reporters.

The gathering was also attended by BN advisory board chairman Najib Abdul Razak, BN’s Asahan candidate Fairul Nizam Roslan and other leaders. Ismail Sabri only arrived around noon and he spent an hour meeting the locals.

In his Facebook account, Najib uploaded two posts and several images of the gathering at two eateries and one of them was attended by Ismail Sabri.

These images showed that both Ismail Sabri and Najib failed to observe physical distance.

When contacted, Malacca police confirmed receiving a police report on a breakfast event which was attended by 200 individuals at an eatery at Lendu, Masjid Tanah.

State police chief Abdul Majid Mohd Ali, however, could not confirm if the breakfast event organised by Lendu Umno was attended by both Ismail Sabri and Najib as both were not named in the police report.

“The police report was lodged at 10.30am today, and we referred the investigation to the Health Ministry. No compound has been issued yet.

“The report was lodged for allegedly failing to observe social distance although three warnings have been issued to the organiser by the Health Ministry officer during the assembly,” he said.

The opposition and civil society groups have raised concerns over what perceived “overzealous enforcement actions” taken by police in Malacca for alleged violations of Covid-19 SOP during ongoing campaigns ahead of polling day for the Malacca state election on Nov 20.

Police have issued an RM4,000 compound to Pakatan Harapan’s Machap Jaya candidate Law Bing Haw, who was wearing clothing with the coalition’s logo, for allegedly campaigning at a local eatery in Alor Gajah on Wednesday.

Police have also called up several candidates from Harapan and BN over alleged standard operating procedure (SOP) violations during nomination day on Monday. - Mkini