Why home quarantine for Santhara, ask MPs

FMT:

Why home quarantine for Santhara, ask MPs

Segamat MP Edmund Santhara said he left the country to be with his family, partly because his wife was ill.

PETALING JAYA: Deputy federal territories minister Edmund Santhara flew home after a controversy-ridden holiday in New Zealand, only to spark another issue over his mandatory quarantine.

Two PKR MPs are now questioning why he was allowed to undergo home quarantine after returning from New Zealand recently.

Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said every person returning from abroad had to undergo mandatory quarantine at hotels or isolation centres approved by the health ministry.

He said there should be no double standards for those in the government.

“He might think New Zealand is a very safe country (in terms of Covid-19) but he would still have been in contact with people at the airport. He can opt for home quarantine if there is some form of special travel arrangement with New Zealand, but there is none.

“Even people coming from Singapore must be quarantined (at hotels or centres), so why was an exemption given to Santhara?

“If the health ministry were to maintain its credibility, they should treat everyone the same,” the Gopeng MP told FMT.

Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah said it was “crazy” that the Segamat MP was allowed to quarantine at home when ordinary people were made to stay in hotel rooms for the 10-day period.

“Since the authorities want to fine people who break SOPs, so why didn’t they fine him or the person who allowed him to go under home quarantine? This shouldn’t have happened.

“What’s so special about Santhara? Does he have special antibodies?” the PKR MP asked.

FMT has reached out to health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah for comment.

It was reported today that Santhara had returned from New Zealand last week and is now being quarantined at home. Santhara’s private secretary, Muhammad Effi Arpan, confirmed the matter.

On March 1, in response to questions raised over his “disappearance” from the country, Santhara took to social media to explain that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had allowed him to go on leave for 55 days to be in New Zealand with his family, partly because his wife was ill.

The Segamat MP denied allegations that he left the country during the movement control order, clarifying that he left for Auckland on Dec 23 and was quarantined until Jan 9.