KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — The government cannot bypass Parliament to increase the RM1,000 compound that those who breach the movement control order (MCO) have been asked to pay, despite views that this fine is too low, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

Ismail Sabri said that the government will maintain the compound rate at RM1,000, but also stressed that offenders could be brought to court instead of being offered compounds.

“(About) RM1,000 being too low, many are indeed of the view why it is too low compared to other countries. We did discuss but the Act is clear, the rules are clear that the penalty is RM1,000. If we want to change it, it has to be brought to Parliament, so for now, the compound is still at that rate.

“However as I have said, the police have a choice whether to issue a compound or to bring the case to court. So if the case is brought to court, I have said yesterday, the penalty of imprisonment can be decided by the courts.

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“So maybe after this, we don’t know, we leave it to the police. The police will use their discretion, maybe if cases that are not too major, they will issue a compound. But if they feel that cases have to be brought to court, they will bring to court. But I believe after this, we will tend to bring those who breach to court more,” he said during a press conference broadcast live.

Ismail Sabri reiterated his previous remarks that certain cases did not only involve instances of breaching the MCO, but involved offences under the Penal Code such as obstruction of civil servants’ duties with some hitting the roadblock cordon and injuring police personnel with such offences having heavier penalty.

When addressing the question of what the government would do to prevent overcrowding or congested conditions in prisons as it eyes harsher action on MCO offenders, Ismail said this would be left to the prison authorities and police to work out social distancing arrangements.

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“From the aspect of prisons, we leave it to the police and the prisons to discuss whether social distancing will be implemented… I just want to stress that if brought to court, it is no longer the power of the police but it is the courts’ jurisdiction to determine the penalty,” he said.

During the same press conference, Ismail Sabri said that the police and military had carried out 783 roadblocks nationwide yesterday with 435,361 vehicles inspected, while authorities had carried out 48,123 spot checks nationwide with 6,158 premises inspected.

Ismail Sabri also said the police had yesterday arrested 1,220 individuals for breaching the MCO, namely 854 individuals who were issued the compound of RM1,000 fine, 345 who were remanded and 21 who were put on police bail.

To date, Ismail Sabri said a total of 2,156 compounds have been issued, with the total cumulative arrests of those who breached the MCO since March 18 to April 11 being 8,125 individuals.

Mandatory quarantine at all entry points

Ismail Sabri also said that quarantine centres were prepared at all international entry points into Malaysia, and that it was mandatory for all Malaysians to undergo screening before compulsory quarantine upon entering the country whether through air, land or sea.

These entry points include those via land at Padang Besar, Perlis and Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah, while those by sea include ferry terminals at Stulang Laut, Johor and Sandakan, Sabah, while those via air are KLIA and klia2 airports, Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) and Kuching International Airport (KIA).

On April 11, a total of 835 Malaysians returned home and were placed under mandatory quarantine, he said.

The number of quarantine centres that were in operation had increased from 156 the day before to 163 on April 11, while the total number of individuals undergoing mandatory quarantine as of April 11 is 12,359, he said.  

Sanitisation activities

Ismail Sabri today also said the Housing and Local Government Ministry has since March 30 carried out a total of 1,413 sanitisation operations in 89 zones including 25 red zones, including 987 government buildings, 602 public places, 599 business centres and 115 supermarkets.

On April 11 itself, 122 sanitisation operations covering 51 zones in 13 states were carried out, including 38 areas in Johor and 23 areas in Pahang, with places sanitised being 103 government buildings, 37 public places, 71 business centres and eight supermarkets.

Also on April 11, decontamination was carried out on one People’s Housing Project (PPR) and 17 common use areas for low-cost and mid-low cost housing schemes in red zones in Selangor, which makes the total of PPRs sanitised so far 38 PPRs involving 37,686 housing units.