By : Nurul Husna Binti Mohammad Hysham
All those entering the country will have to bear the
cost of mandatory quarantine and are to sign a letter agreeing to pay before
they can make the trip to Malaysia, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The Senior Minister said with the latest policy, Malaysians
would pay half the cost of quarantine services while non-citizens, including
spouses and family members of Malaysian citizens, had to bear the full cost.
“This will take effect from June 1 as Malaysia will
continue to impose compulsory quarantine on those who return from abroad to
prevent the spread of Covid-19,” he said at his daily media briefing yesterday.
Ismail Sabri said the National Security Council had
decided that Malaysian citizens would pay 50% of the full charges of RM150 per
day. While Non-citizens, including spouses and dependents of Malaysian
citizens, will have to pay the full amount.
The council had also decided that those who wanted to
come to Malaysia would have to sign a letter of undertaking, which states their
agreement to bear the quarantine costs. The signing of the letter can be done
at Malaysian embassies and high commissions. After the agreement is signed, the
office will also issue a letter permitting them to return to Malaysia.
Then, he also said the Immigration Department would
play its part to ensure returnees were aware of the new condition set by the
government. The Immigration will be issuing a directive to all airline
companies to make it a condition for passengers disembarking in Malaysia to
have this letter of undertaking with them.
Since April 3, the government had enforced compulsory
quarantine for all Malaysians returning from abroad. To date, 38,371 Malaysians
who returned from overseas had been quarantined. Out of the figure, 30,200
individuals had completed the process and were allowed to go home.
Those who refused to pay will have their Immigration
facilities revoked, which will see them having to make more frequent trips to
the department to renew their passes to stay in Malaysia. On the return of
Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) participants, Ismail Sabri said they would have
to apply to come back to Malaysia.
Earlier, the government said it would allow MM2H
participants stranded abroad to return to Malaysia with some conditions. Among
them are that they must undergo Covid-19 testing at the place they are
presently in and must be certified free of the disease before they are allowed
to fly back in.
