KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun has denied that the lifting of the mandatory 14-day quarantine ruling for people returning from Sabah was done to clear an MP from the state accused of violating health standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The state minister for local government and housing said the 14-day quarantine rule was lifted following his appeal to the National Security Council (NSC).
On November 24, Keningau MP Jeffrey Kitingan was accused by several opposition MPs of breaking the quarantine rule while attending a parliamentary sitting after just 11 days of self-isolation.
He responded to criticism by saying that he has clearance papers from the Health Ministry to attend the Dewan Rakyat sitting.
Later that same day, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba announced that the 14-day quarantine rule had been lifted for people returning from Sabah.
The opposition lawmakers also took Parliament to task for appearing to be biased in the treatment of MPs aligned with the federal government.
Masidi denied talks that the lifting of the quarantine rule had anything to do with Jeffrey.
“I can assure you that I attend the NSC meeting every day, and I appealed to them to lift the 14-day requirement long before this happened,” he said in his daily briefing on Covid-19 last night.
“It comes from my genuine feelings as to why Sabahans are being treated more harshly than others. The council had several meetings before arriving at that decision.
“I can assure you it has nothing to do with the politician in question.”
Chan Foong Hin, the DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu, had on November 24 questioned Jeffrey’s presence in the Dewan Rakyat despite having attended the Sabah State Assembly Sitting on November 12, which was 12 days before.
“This act breaches the Dewan Rakyat secretary’s directive on October 9, which makes it compulsory for all Sabah MPs who want to attend the current sitting to quarantine for 14 days,” Chan had said.
In a letter to Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun, he called for Jeffrey to be referred to the Rights and Privileges Committee over his action that could be construed as tantamount to contempt of Parliament. – The Vibes, November 27, 2020
