Students from B40 group exempted from paying for quarantine, says Ismail Sabri

PETALING JAYA: Students from B40 families will be exempted from paying the mandatory quarantine costs, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“The government has made the decision that only students who come from families who can afford it - they will have to pay for the costs of quarantine.

“If the student has a scholarship, the entities sponsoring them will have to pay for the quarantine costs.

“Students who are from low-income backgrounds, from B40 families, will be exempted from paying quarantine costs when they submit an appeal, ” he said in a press conference on Monday (Aug 3).

The Senior Minister (Security) also said the government was seriously viewing the incidents of non-compliance in regards to home quarantine rules.

“The Health Ministry officials, as well as police, will be conducting spot-checks to ensure that all are following the SOP, ” he said.

As of Aug 2, authorities have conducted 2,160 spot checks and found 51 people had not adhered to home quarantine rules.

Ismail Sabri also said that police have issued compounds to 209 individuals on Sunday for violating the recovery movement control order (MCO).

A task force with 12,756 officials, he said, had conducted inspections to ensure premise owners and members of the public were complying with the standard operating procedure (SOP).

“Among the offences committed include pub and nightclub activities (13), premises that were operating overtime (31), activities involving large groups that make it difficult for social distancing (50), and other activities that break the SOP (115).

“The government also hopes that the people will continue to be the eyes and ears of the authorities, to report any activities that violate the SOP, ” he said.

Ismail Sabri also said police have set up 61 roadblocks on Sunday (Aug 2) and have inspected 35,097 vehicles.

This was to prevent the illegal entry of foreign workers via hidden routes (lorong tikus).

From May 1 to July 26, as many as 2,625 undocumented foreigners, 602 boat skippers and 155 smugglers were arrested.