KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — Those who were slapped with a compound of RM1,000 by the police for travelling within the same district can make an appeal for the amount to be reduced.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said there is still confusion over the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for inter-district travel in states that have been placed under the movement control order (MCO) and the conditional MCO (CMCO).
“There are some who complained that they were compounded at roadblocks when travelling within the same district.
“The SOPs are meant for administrative districts, led by the district officer and not the police districts…I have informed the Royal Malaysia Police about this matter,” he told a press conference on the development of MCO at Wisma Pertahanan here, today.
He said those who were compounded due to the confusion could appeal to the respective district health offices where the compound was issued.
Ismail Sabri said under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), the RM1,000 compound was the maximum amount but those who were fined can still appeal for reduction.
Meanwhile, he said the government had never issued a directive for hotels in areas placed under the MCO, CMCO or the recovery MCO (RMCO) to stop operations.
“Hotels are always allowed to operate. If there are hotels that are closed, perhaps due to not enough guests, it has nothing to do with government directive…in fact, tourism activities have been allowed to operate in areas placed under RMCO and CMCO areas,” he said.
Ismail Sabri also denied that changes in the current SOPs were a ‘flip-flop’ decision by the government as claimed by certain quarters.
However, he said the changes were made based on the current needs and situation.
— Bernama
