TOP Health Ministry officials came to know of minister Khairuddin Aman Razali’s breach of quarantine last week, when the media reported the issue, Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

An internal investigation was immediately launched, he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

“We were not in the know. Not the ministry. We only got to know last week when this was raised by the media.

“We then started an investigation because the D-G, deputy D-G and the head of the infectious disease department were not informed. 

“So we instructed that an internal investigation be conducted,” he said.

Noor Hisham said he has received the full report of the investigation on what transpired on the ground yesterday.

He said frontliners should inform their superiors what happened on the ground.

Noor Hisham was asked to explain the timing of the ministry’s announcement on August 22 that a RM1,000 compound has been issued to Khairuddin, the plantation, industries and commodities minister, who skipped quarantine after returning from Turkey on July 7.

The Kuala Nerus MP and PAS politician proceeded to attend several functions in his constituency and also Parliament sittings.

However, the timing of the ministry’s announcement on the compound came under scrutiny, as it was stated that Khairuddin had paid the fine on August 7.

The stated date raised questions as to when other authorities knew of his quarantine breach, as the matter was raised by Khairuddin’s ministerial predecessor, Teresa Kok, in Parliament on August 18.

The matter is under police investigation.

“Police are also part of our enforcement under Act 342. (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988).”

“We will leave it to police to do all the necessary investigation. I hope police will do a good job to address this issue as soon as possible,” he said. – August 25, 2020.