KUALA LUMPUR: Nine organisations have urged the authorities to conduct regulatory impact assessment prior to the amendments that will be done on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act (Act 342).
The organisations said the amendment bill, which tabling has been postponed until the next Parliament sitting, should be withdrawn to allow for proper evaluations to take place.
This, they said, would allow relevant quarters to generate relevant, practical and realistic amendments to the law.
"To date after the withholding of the Bill for further review, no consultations have been forthcoming.
"We, therefore, suggest that these amendments be thoroughly studied through consultations with all stakeholders under the Good Regulatory Practice Regulations and the requisite and due process of Regulatory Impact Assessment be conducted thoroughly.
"We, thus, propose that this bill be withdrawn to conduct this requisite process," they said, adding the proposed amendments had caught all parties by surprise as no consultation had been conducted with stakeholders prior to the drafting of the bill.
The statement was from the Building Management Association of Malaysia (BMAM), Bumiputra Retailers Organization (BRO), Industries Unite, Malaysia REIT Managers Association (MRMA), Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA), Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA), Malaysia Association of Theme Park and Family Attractions (MATFA), Malaysia Shopping Malls Association, and the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda).
They said some of the proposed amendments were irrelevant and unnecessary and will hinder the nation's economic recovery following the devastating impact on the lives and livelihood of Malaysians since the pandemic.
"Almost all our population have been fully vaccinated and many have already received their booster shots.
"Evidence and studies have proven that the Covid-19 virus is spread predominantly via aerosol thus many of the precautionary standard operating procedures can be discarded."
They said the people must not be put under undue fear by having to face hefty penalties due to impractical impositions and subjective interpretations of regulations that were meant to combat infectious diseases.
On Dec 20, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told Parliament that the second and third readings of the amendments to Act 342 would be done during the next Dewan Rakyat session.
He had said that the decision was made after an engagement session between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Health Minsitry, and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Science, and Innovation.
According to Khairy, the decision to postpone the amendments was because a bipartisan consensus could be achieved as it was key in getting public compliance during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
He had also said that the amendments to act will be made public before it is tabled for the second and third readings.
