KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — Sarawak has decided not to follow the National Security Council’s (NSC) decision in charging Malaysian returnees 50 per cent of quarantine fees in hotels.
The Borneo Post reported Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the chairman of the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), as saying that Sarawakians returning to the state will not be accountable for the fees related to hotel quarantine, noting that only foreigners quarantined in hotels in Sarawak will be charged the full amount.
“This is KL’s decision. Over here, we have not made that decision. For Sarawakians at the moment, the state government is paying for the fees, with part of it being paid by KL.
“There was once a proposal for students returning to Sarawak to be quarantined in boarding houses, but Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had said we should give them a bit more comfort so we put them in hotels,” said Uggah at a press conference yesterday.
Uggah further reported that the SDMC has coordinated the return of 8,116 students to the state from the Peninsula, Sabah and Labuan thus far, while about 800 more students have yet to return to the state.
He also added that there are currently 98 active quarantine centres in the state, which hold a total of 60 persons-under-investigation (PUI and 38 persons-under-surveillance (PUS).
Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob previously announced that Malaysian citizens would be required to pay 50 per cent of the mandatory quarantine fee that is priced at RM150 per day beginning June 1, as cited by The Star.
“Non-citizens including spouses and dependents who are of permanent resident status will have to pay the charges in full,” said Ismail Sabri yesterday,
He further added that the NSC had made the decision to require those returning to Malaysia to sign a letter of undertaking in agreement to bear the costs associated with mandatory quarantine.
