IPOH – Any individual who is unhappy with being compounded for violating the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) during the period of the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) in Perak, can appeal to the authorities.
Perak police chief Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid in a statement today said that was among the options available other than the individual could appear in court to appeal during the trial.
“If the compounded person is not satisfied or refuses to admit wrongdoing, he can choose two options, namely to appeal to the District Health Office (PKD) or go to court and claim trial,” he said in the statement.
He was commenting on the allegations of a Twitter user; @Ayuni_Bunga who today uploaded a compound notice of RM25,000 imposed on a caretaker for conducting a self-service laundry operation in the EMCO area.
Bernama checks found that the compound notice was issued in Bandar Pengkalan Indah, Simpang Pulai, here against the caretaker of the premises at about 3.55 pm yesterday.
Based on the SOP of the EMCO implemented in the Hulu Kinta sub-district, laundry or self-service laundry services are listed as among the non-essential services that are not allowed to operate throughout the EMCO period.
It was reported that four sub-districts in Perak were subject to EMCO, namely Pengkalan Hulu sub-district in Hulu Perak district, Taiping sub-district in Larut, Matang and Selama district, Hulu Kinta sub-district covering Ipoh, Lahat, Chemor and Tanjung Rambutan in Kinta district and Hulu Bernam Timur sub-district in Muallim district starting from May 22 to June 4.
Quarantine period extended
The mandatory quarantine period meanwhile for Malaysian and non-citizen travellers from countries except Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan, has been extended from 10 to 14 days, effective immediately.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the 14-day quarantine period would be extended for another seven days to 21 days if necessary, based on the risk assessment results on the 14th day.
“The additional quarantine period will be carried out at the same quarantine station. The COVID-19 RT-PCR repeat test will be performed on the 10th day. If the quarantine period is extended to 21 days, the RT-PCR repeat test must be done on the 18th day,” he said, in a statement today.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said the mandatory quarantine period for travellers arriving from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan has been extended from 14 to 21 days at government-designated quarantine stations.
He said the mandatory 21-day quarantine order on travellers arriving from India remained unchanged.
Ismail Sabri said the decision was made at today’s special session of the National Security Council (MKN), after taking into account the current COVID-19 pandemic situation with more than 50 per cent of countries reporting the worrying spread of variants of concern (VOC) in the community.
In addition, he said all travellers are required to undergo a COVID-19 RT-PCR test three days before departure and only those tested negative are allowed to board flights into Malaysia.
All travellers must also undergo COVID-19 RT-PCR test test on arrival, he added.
Complaints received on employers not allowing WFH
Nine complaints have been received with regard to employers not allowing their staff to work from home (WFH) through the newly-introduced “Majikan Tidak Benarkan BDR” (employers not permitting WFH) category of the Working for Workers (WFW) application.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the category, introduced yesterday, was created following the government’s announcement that 40 per cent of private sector staff will work from home, starting tomorrow (May 25), to reduce the risk COVID-19 infection.
“Workers forced by employers to be present at the office and in contradiction with the additional restrictions under Movement Control Order (MCO) are encouraged to lodge a complaint via the WFW application,” he said in a statement today.
He said the ministry, through its relevant departments, would conduct investigations in accordance with relevant acts and the complaint would be referred to the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) or Ministry of Health (MOH) if there was a violation of the standard operating procedure (SOP) or Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342).
The WFW application was introduced on May 3 as a platform to 15.7 million employees, including foreigners, to lodge complaints and raise problems regarding labour issues.
The application currently has 17 categories, including the new ‘employers not permitting WFH’.
“The move to create the new category online is the ministry’s initiative to help reduce the movement and physical presence of workers and allow them to lodge complaints at any Labour Office,” he said.
Saravanan said the WFW application had recorded a total of 178 complaints as of May 23, of which 105 were made by Malaysians and the rest by foreign workers.
Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest number of complaints, with 75 cases, followed by Selangor (44) and Johor (21), he added.
