Chong says he will work from home for 14 days and will still be contactable through his handphone.
KUCHING (Dec 21): Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has denied that he had applied to be exempted from quarantine on Dec 18, stating that he merely applied for the ‘Permit to Enter Sarawak’, just like all ordinary Sarawakians returning to the state.
“The first application for ‘Permit to Enter Sarawak’ was submitted on Dec 18 together with both the Covid-19 test results done on Dec 11 and Dec 17 in Parliament and the Parliament’s notice of meeting,” he said in a statement today.
The Stampin MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman was reacting to the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee’s (SDMC) recent clarification that he had applied to be exempted as an MP from the quarantine on Dec 18
Chong said he received the ’14-day Quarantine Order’ on the same day and was preparing to be hotel-quarantined for the next 14 days.
“Upon my arrival at the Kuching International Airport, the Civil Defence Force officers were surprised to see me with the ‘14-day Quarantine Order’ and asked me to submit again for the ‘Permit to Enter Sarawak’ through the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) website, which I did.
Chong said the same set of documents was submitted and he received an email an hour later from SDMC stating that an ‘Exemption’ was granted to him while he was waiting to be transported to the designated quarantine hotels.
“I then showed the Civil Defence Force officers on duty the email whereupon my quarantined wristband was removed and I was asked to go home with no requirement for quarantine.”
Chong said this was the actual situation happened on that day and he hoped that certain parties, including Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) would stop twisting facts without knowing the facts of the matter.
He stressed that he did not write in specifically to the SDMC chairman requesting for exemption from quarantine upon his return to the state.
“I don’t believe in Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) being treated differently from the people whom they represent, especially for the purpose of containing a pandemic.”
As such, Chong stressed he would still work from home for 14 days and expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Health and frontline personnel for their effectiveness in carrying out their tasks.
“During the period, I will work from home and will still be contactable through my handphone. For matters that require physical appearance and on the ground services, my assistants, Michael Kong, Sim Kiat Leng, Abdul Aziz Isa, Christina Chiew, Julian Tan and Ting Kee Kai will help up,” said Chong.
Chong had previously written on his Facebook page that he was subjected to 14-day quarantine upon his return after attending the Parliament session in Kuala Lumpur while MPs from the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) ruling coalition were not subjected to the same requirement.
The post Chong denies applying for Covid-19 quarantine exemption upon return from KL appeared first on Borneo Post Online.