KUCHING: A recent announcement made by the federal government on the increase of penalty for cases of violating the Covid-19 movement control order (MCO) standard operating procedures (SOPs) have received mixed responses from all quarters.
The RM10,000 fine which is to be imposed on individuals who violate Covid-19 SOPs starting March 11 is excessive, opined
Kota Samarahan Municipal Council (MPKS) chairman Datuk Peter Minos.
He said while offenders must certainly be taught a lesson and the law must provide for this, such action needed to be carried out with a sense of reason and fairness in the prevailing situation.
“I think doubling the fine of RM1,000 now to RM2,000 per transgression will do. This is a painful deterrent and I believe it will work and achieve its primary purpose, but not the outrageous fine of RM10,000 per offence,” he said in a statement today.
He said many would not afford the RM10,000 fine, especially when savings are so important in surviving the current challenging period.
“Going against any of the SOPs is admittedly bad and not helping our war against Covid-19; no doubt about that. But fining an offender with a whopping RM10,000 would ‘kill’ him or her financially.
“Putting him or her in jail if the fine is not paid – that would be openly criminalising the whole thing,” he said.
He said a caring and concerned government would not want to labelled as deliberately offensive to its citizens, especially in such a trying and difficult time today.
The new ruling of the RM10,000 fine for individuals who flout the SOPs is based on the Emergency (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 through a federal government gazette uploaded to the official portal of the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) on Thursday.
“For the well-to-do, RM10,000 may be peanuts, but for many financially struggling Malaysians during this Covid-19 pandemic, RM10,000 is quite beyond reach or even impossible to attain,” said Minos.
Effective March 11, the amended ordinance also specifies that companies and corporations found violating the SOPs can be fined up to RM50,000.
