Justice rushed is justice crushed

 

MP SPEAKS | Today will be the debate for the amendment of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1988 (Act 342).

The Dewan Rakyat sitting was extended for one day just for this single business.

The Amendment Bill was tabled to Parliament for the first reading last Monday, Dec 13.

The bill seeks to amend the General Penalty to RM100,000 fine and/or seven years' imprisonment for an individual and RM2 million fine for a corporation. The power to compound increased was from RM1,00 to RM10,000 for an individual and to RM1 million for a corporation.

The Amendment Bill faces a lot of objections, particularly on the exorbitant increase of the fine. The people are angry with "Antara Dua Darjat" enforcement.

We have seen a former minister, Khairuddin Aman Razali, get away with an RM1,000 compound for breaching quarantine rules, while a burger seller in Kelantan was slapped with an RM50,000 compound for operating outside the hours allowed.

Last Wednesday, Dec 15, the government sought to amend the bill itself to reduce the General Penalty for an individual to RM50,000 and/or three years’ imprisonment. The maximum compound allowed for a corporate body was reduced to RM500,000 instead of RM1 million.

The next day, Dec 16, shortly before the postponement of the bill in Parliament, the government again reduced the General Penalty for an individual to RM2,000 and/or two years’ imprisonment. The compound for an individual was reduced to RM1,000 and for a corporation to RM500,000.

Two amendments to the Act 342 Amendment Bill in two days. This will only tell us that the government had never planned well for this piece of legislation.

Our Parliament is not a pasar malam that you can simply give some discounts to get a deal done. Parliament is a serious platform to deliberate on the people's issues. - Mkini

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WONG KAH WOH of the DAP is the MP for Ipoh Timor.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.