PENANG Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr Ramasamy Palanisamy has questioned if the proposed amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1988 (Act 342) were made to control the COVID-19 pandemic or to curb the rights of Malaysians.
The Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Bill 2021 which includes increasing the maximum compound on individuals and corporate organisations violating the law was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Dec 14).
The amendments proposed that the value of the compound to be increased from RM1,000 to RM1 mil for a corporate body, while for individual offences, a fine of up to RM10,000 could be imposed, as compared to the current maximum RM1,000.
After public outrage, the Health Ministry (MOH) had revised penalties in its proposed amendments – while the revised Act 342 amendment Bill 2021 maintained the maximum RM10,000 compound for individuals, the maximum compound for corporate bodies was halved from RM1 mil to RM500,000.
General penalties upon conviction of offences committed by individuals under Act 342, for which no specific penalty is provided, were changed from the initially proposed jail term of not more than seven years, a maximum RM100,000 fine, or both to imprisonment not exceeding three years, a maximum RM50,000 fine, or both.
“Why there is a need for stringent amendments that would impose a penalty of RM10,000 and a jail term of three years for those breaking the law in regard to the control of the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult to understand,” Ramasamy remarked.
Such kind of laws should have been proposed much earlier when the pandemic had reared its ugly head and certainly not during a time when the pandemic is about to enter the endemic phase, he added.
“The analogy of closing stable gates after the horses have left seems quite applicable to the new amendments to Act 342.
“It is not that the laws should be unchanging or static but rather, they should be cognisant of [surrounding changes]. Furthermore, the purpose of law is to educate to ensure deterrence and not with the aim of inflicting punishment or injury.”
While commending Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar for a job well done in controlling the pandemic, Ramasamy also said that the former had “lost sight of what needs to be done at the tail-end of the pandemic”.
Calling Khairy a “typical UMNO politician who has no feelings or empathy for the poor and the less fortunate”, Ramasamy went on to point out that while the compounds might not mean much to the rich and powerful, such a hefty amount would ruin individuals and families.
“It is common knowledge that during the height of the pandemic, the laws were not uniformly applied.
“While the rich and those connected with the corridors of power got away, it was the common men and women who were punished.
“Even if the penalty or compound was imposed on politicians or those who were connected to them, the impact was less on them than those wage earners, a significant portion of which were unemployed during the pandemic.”
Calling for the amendments to Act 342 to be rescinded as soon as possible, Ramasamy reiterated that there is no need to amend the law at a time when there is a downturn in the spread of the pandemic.
“In fact, there is no need for the amendment in the first place, let alone for the Opposition [to enter into discussions with the Government] to mitigate the obnoxious aspects of the new law,” he concluded. – Dec 17, 2021
