KUALA LUMPUR – There are unconfirmed accounts that a migrant worker has died at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) low-risk Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centre in Selangor.
The actual circumstances of the incident are not known, but authorities have been evasive when asked if it was a suicide.
Malaysian Covid-19 patient Ashwin Thomas, who is undergoing quarantine at the centre, told The Vibes that he was forced to delete a video recording he had made of the body being taken away in a responder vehicle.
He expressed anger over authorities compelling him to remove the footage.
He said that he was filming the vehicle that was outside the quarantine centre, while non-citizens were seen standing and waiting near it at midnight.
He said he was informed that the vehicle was taking away the body of a non-citizen who had allegedly taken his own life.
He was later told by officials who spotted him to delete the footage, and he was subsequently prohibited from taking videos outside the centre by the authorities in charge.
Ashwin also said that he observed non-citizens being treated poorly, while also being segregated from citizens at the centre.
“From the beginning, foreign nationals are segregated from Malaysians. They don’t travel in the same bus with us, and when they arrive they are made to sit and wait outside to be processed.
“And during the quarantine, they don’t stay at the same place with us. They are put in a different section and have no contact with the locals,” Aswin said while contacted.
The Vibes attempted to gain clarification on the cause of the death with the police and Health Ministry, but they have yet to confirm the matter.
Earlier today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof told reporters in Melaka that security at Covid-19 low-risk facilities nationwide will be enhanced to prevent untoward incidents.
He was reported by Bernama as saying that more Civil Defence Force personnel will be deployed to the 391 centres currently in operation.
“When there are many people, various problems can arise, so what we can do is improve security at these centres,” he said. “With the presence of more CDF members, patrols can be done more often.”
His comments follow a theft at the MAEPS quarantine centre, which saw the arrest of two men suspected of stealing four mobile phones belonging to patients. – The Vibes, February 13, 2021
