Amendments to Act 342 postponed to next Parliament sitting

KUALA LUMPUR: Amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) which were to be discussed and decided today have been postponed to the next Parliament sitting.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the decision was made after discussing the matter with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, apart from taking into account the current flood situation in the country.

"According to the Standing Order 62 of the Dewan Rakyat, I propose the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Bill 2021 in the order of business of the meeting today be postponed for the second and third reading to the next meeting," he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.

The Dewan Rakyat was supposed to end last Thursday, but was extended for one more day today to discuss and pass the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Bill 2021.

According to Khairy, the ministry had an engagement session with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Science and Innovation at 8 am today in line with the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Transformation and Political Stability between the Federal Government and Pakatan Harapan (PH).

He said he had tabled the details on the amendments to Act 342, including the rules and guidelines required in the amendment.

"We have also heard the views of a group of experts who gave suggestions and advice to the select committee and I have been informed by the chairman of this select committee Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen (PH-Bandar Kuching) that the committee made a unanimous decision to postpone it (amendment).

"Most of the substantive matters have already been agreed, there are only a few details that still need to be discussed," he added.

Khairy said if the bill was approved without the consensus of political parties, it would hamper smooth implementation of the amendment.

The bill, which includes increasing the maximum compound on individuals and corporate organisations violating the law was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat last Tuesday.

The amendments proposed that the value of the compound be increased from RM1,000 to RM1 million for a corporate body, while for individual offences, a fine of up to RM10,000 could be imposed, as compared to the current maximum of RM1,000.

Earlier, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun adjourned the Dewan Rakyat sitting for 15 minutes as the engagement session on the amendments to Act 342 had not ended.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PH-Port Dickson) welcomed the postponement of the amendment to the act to enable it to be reviewed so that actions to combat COVID-19 and other communicable diseases could be addressed more effectively.

He said based on the spirit of the MoU, the engagement session should be continued to study provisions in the bill, including to take into account the views of various parties.

"Basically we agree there should be rules ... what we don't agree is the burden on the people, high compound punishment and too wide a discretion for enforcement and punishment that does not refer to the court process and coordination with local authorities," he said.

Anwar said several substantive matters regarding the proposed amendment had been taken into account, including lowering or canceling the proposed compound increase on individuals ofRM10,000 to remain at RM1,000 for the moment.

Apart from that, Dr Kelvin recommended that guidelines on enforcement of the law be disseminated to the public before the bill is tabled in Parliament.

-- BERNAMA