KUCHING: Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) fully supports punishing recalcitrant violators of standard operating procedures (SOPs), but at the same time it is concerned with the excessive fine imposed on first-time violators due to confusion of the SOPs.
Its chairman Datuk John Lau Pang Heng said it will not be fair for individuals or companies that are first-time violators to be fined RM10,000 and RM50,000 respectively.
“For first-time violators of the SOPs due to confusion, a penalty of RM10,000 may be too heavy. This is because no one wants to violate the SOPs as we are all worried about the possible Covid-19 infection,” he said Friday.
The government’s SOPs are constantly updated and the people are not informed properly on which are the correct SOPs to follow, he pointed out.
“Economy is down, many have lost their jobs, unemployment is increasing, and the economy has affected the manufacturing and service sectors. Many people who hold managerial positions may not earn RM10,000 per month; if they violate the SOPs due to ignorance and being fined a huge amount, many are asking how they can bring food to the table for the family.
“As for industries whose businesses are already down for the past 12 months, having to pay RM50,000 for a slight SOP violation may lead them to close sooner than later,” he said.
Therefore, he said that it would be good if the government could promote the SOPs through television, radio, leaflets and posters, as this would enable everyone to understand the SOPs better.
Lau was responding to the amended Emergency (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, which stated that effective March 11, those breaching the movement control order (MCO) regulations could be fined up to RM10,000.
It also stated that companies or corporations violating the SOPs could be fined up to RM50,000.
He added that SPA had spoken to several community leaders here who confirmed that no one wanted to violate the SOPs, and they also informed that during the current MCO, conditional movement control order (CMCO), and enhanced movement control order (Emco) periods, there were even enforcement officers who were confused on which SOPs to follow.
“Thus, as many of us are registered with MySejahtera, it will be most welcoming that updated SOPs can be published on the apps in various languages, namely Bahasa Malaysia (BM), English, Mandarin, Tamil, Iban and so on.
“Currently, the languages used in MySejahtera are only in BM and English. Many elderly members of the public may have difficulties reading BM and English. Plus, we are also unsure if visible challenges people are accessible to MySejahtera,” he said.
Lau hoped that the government and those involved could create more awareness of the SOPs.
