KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Putrajaya should cancel all RM10,000 compound notices that have been issued under the Emergency Ordinance until it properly details the offences provided for, Opposition lawmaker Lim Lip Eng said today.
The Kepong MP likened the current scenario to “putting the cart before the horse” and questioned the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government if it had properly discussed the offences covered before pushing out the increased RM10,000 penalty under the Emergency (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021.
“To put it bluntly, this is another epic case of the incompetence of the PN government when it seeks to put the cart before the horse on major national policies in difficult times caused by the pandemic,” he said in a statement.
He claimed a recent statement on the issue by Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Parliament and Law, showed the government failed to discuss the compound’s implementation and offences before introducing the ordinance.
He added that such a policy has created a lot of confusion and anger among the public.
“These are half-baked policies from PN which have done damage to the ordinary rakyat who are already facing economic hardships.
“This has also resulted in a lot of frustrations to the general public and much time has been wasted over the appeal for reduction,” he said.
Lim reminded Takiyuddin to treat all those who violated the law equally.
“It has been reported that the Covid-19 preventive laws are seemingly to the afflictions of the ordinary rakyat, but it is forgiving when the violators are VVIPs such as Takiyuddin's own colleagues in the Cabinet,” he said.
Yesterday, Takiyuddin said that the government would list out the offences which are subjected to RM10,000 compound under the new ordinance, adding that they would be discussed at the Covid-19 Emergency Management Technical Committee scheduled today.
