Act 342: DAP to oppose amendment bill, calls it 'harshly punitive'

DAP will oppose the bill to amend anti-pandemic law Act 342 when it is up for debate this coming Monday, party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said.

In a statement today, Lim called the new amount of punishment being proposed by the Health Ministry as astronomical and "harshly punitive on the rakyat".

According to the Bagan MP (above), who is also a member of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Management, the proposal to amend the law was also not brought to the committee for discussion.

"What then is the point of having this Special Committee when what should be discussed was never brought up? No paper was ever presented as indicated during previous meetings.

"By right, (Prime Minister) Ismail Sabri Yaakob should explain why this was not deliberated first in the Special Committee before being tabled in Parliament," Lim said.

Maximum fine

The Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act, commonly referred to as Act 342, currently gives the health director-general the power to impose a maximum of RM1,000 fine against individuals who flout standard operating procedures, such as failure to wear a face mask in a public place.

However, under an amendment that the Health Ministry is proposing to Parliament, an offender may be looking at a maximum fine of RM100,000, a jail term not exceeding seven years, or both.

The Health Ministry has since lowered some of the penalties in the bill, after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim declared that the opposition cannot support the bill in the form it was tabled.

It was revised to RM50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years in the case of an individual (for general penalty), while another proposed punishment in Section 25(b) was reduced from a fine not exceeding RM1 million for a corporate body to RM500,000.

The third change substitutes the proposed addition of Section 31(3) to a compound not exceeding RM20,000 or an imprisonment term not exceeding three years or both.

The protest against Act 342 amendments by Solidariti Rakyat, outside Parliament complex yesterday.

The original version of the bill had proposed a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both, for the same section.

Harshly punitive

Lim said the government should not be retributive in dealing with the pandemic and shifting the blame to the public.

"Increasing the penalties astronomically is harshly punitive on the rakyat. The government should not be retributive in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic but should adopt preventive rehabilitative and mitigation measures to contain Covid-19.

"Clearly, this punitive approach shows that the government is running away from its responsibility for mismanaging Covid-19 by shifting the blame on the people. This is both wrong and incompetent.

"Showing leadership by example, stopping policy flip-flops and SOPs U-turns, as well as ending double standards and abuses of power are more effective to ensure SOP compliance.

"DAP will oppose this bill on Monday so that the people will not unfairly shoulder the blame and be harshly penalised for the government's failure," Lim added.

He also questioned the deferment of debating the amendment bill to Monday, saying that it was a calculated move to avoid backlash when voters in Sarawak go to the state polls tomorrow. - Mkini