PUTRAJAYA • All those who plan to enter Malaysia will have to bear the cost of mandatory quarantine and sign a letter agreeing to pay before they can make the trip to the country, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said that with the latest policy, Malaysians will pay half the cost of quarantine services, while non-citizens, including spouses and family members of citizens, will 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 a daily media briefing on Wednesday.
Datuk Seri Ismail said the National Security Council had decided that Malaysian citizens would pay 50 per cent of the full charges of RM150 (S$49) per day. “Non-citizens, including spouses and dependants of Malaysian citizens, will have to pay the full amount.”
Mr Ismail said the council had also decided that those who wanted to come to Malaysia would have to sign a letter of undertaking that 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 issue a letter permitting them to return to Malaysia,” he said.
He said the immigration department would play its part to ensure that returnees are aware of the new condition set by the government.
“The immigration (department) 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 has been enforcing compulsory quarantine for all Malaysians returning from abroad. To date, 38,371 Malaysians who returned from overseas have been quarantined.
Out of that number, 30,200 have completed the process and been allowed to go home.
On May 14, Mr Ismail said that there were spouses and family members of Malaysian citizens who had refused to pay for the quarantine costs despite the government having stated clearly that it would bear only the costs for returning Malaysians.
Those who refuse to pay will have their access to 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 participants of the Malaysia My Second Home programme, Mr Ismail said they would have to apply to come back to Malaysia.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
