Watered-down Act 342 amendment still open to abuse, says Harapan

Pakatan Harapan will not support the proposed amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) tomorrow when it is slated for debate and voting at the Dewan Rakyat.

This is despite revisions today to reduce some of the penalties under the amended law following a public backlash against it.

“Although the additional changes today have reduced the fines and compounds under the amendment, Harapan MPs are of the view that the bill still leaves the door wide open for abuse of power, corruption, and double standards.

“Since the opposition leader has aired his views to the prime minister, and since the government insists on moving forward with debates on the bill, thus Harapan is taking the stance of not supporting the amendment in its current form,” said Harapan chief secretary Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in a statement today.

He urged Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to withdraw the bill pending further discussion with the opposition bloc.

The amendment seeks to update the 33-year-old legislation to tackle the current Covid-19 pandemic as well as future pandemics. The need had arisen after emergency amendments to the law expired after the state of emergency declared earlier this year had ended.

Among others, this includes redefining who is empowered to enforce Act 342 and holds top company executives and directors liable for offences committed by their company.

However, increased penalties under the proposed amendment have raised concerns of being excessive and exacerbated allegations of selective enforcement.

In its original form, the amendment bill stipulates a compound of up to RM10,000 for individuals and RM1 million for corporate bodies for offences under Act 342, compared to the maximum compound of RM1,000 under the current law for both types of offenders.

If a case is brought to court, an individual can be fined up to RM100,000 upon conviction, imprisoned up to seven years, or both. Corporations, meanwhile, can be fined up to RM2 million.

In comparison, the original legislation stipulates a “general penalty” of up to two years imprisonment, a fine, or both for the first offence; and up to five years imprisonment, a fine, or both for subsequent offences.

For regulations made under Act 342, violations of these regulations may carry fines of up to RM50,000, up to two years imprisonment, or both. The current law does not state a maximum penalty for violating such regulations, which may be imposed by order of the health director-general.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said that the ministry is drafting guidelines for a three-tiered system for issuing compounds, with the maximum compound reserved for serious offences or repeat offenders.

Under the revised form of the amendment introduced today, however, the RM1 million maximum compound for corporations is reduced to RM500,000.

Meanwhile, the maximum general penalty for individuals violating Act 342 is reduced from RM100,000 or seven years imprisonment or both to RM50,000 or three years imprisonment or both.

For violating regulations made under Act 342, the maximum penalty is changed from RM50,000 fine or two years imprisonment or both to RM20,000 fine or three years imprisonment or both for individuals. For corporations, the maximum penalty is RM1 million. - Mkini