DAP will continue to oppose controversial amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) to increase Covid-19 compounds, Lim Guan Eng said.  

The DAP secretary-general said the government should not burden the people by imposing heavy fines. 

“DAP and I believe that Pakatan Harapan will object to amendments to Act 342.  

“We can support preventive measure (on Covid-19), but not an increase in fines from RM1,000 to RM10,000 for individuals,” he said during the debate on the royal address.  

On December 20 last year, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government has decided to postpone the debate on Act 342 this year.  

“I was informed by Parliament’s Special Select Committee (Health, Science and Technology) chairman Dr Kelvin Yii (Bandar Kuching-PH) that he has asked the government to postpone the amendment bill. 

“This is not because the amendment bill is rejected but there are details that require further consultation,” the Rembau MP said.

Among the amendments to the bill are increasing the maximum compounds for individuals and companies to RM20,000 and RM500,000 respectively, which have drawn an angry response from the public, complaining that the fines are excessive and not applied fairly.

Lim believed the fines are not reasonable and the people should not be blamed for the failures in the standard operating procedure (SOP). 

“Even ministers are breaching the SOP. Where is the leadership by example?  

“Even the Sembrong MP (Hishammuddin Hussein) did not follow the SOP he set. 

“And he only got a RM1,000 fine. Even if it was raised to RM10,000 it won’t be a problem (for him).

“But, the amount for the rakyat is big.” – March 1, 2022.