25 December 2021
Hulu Langat MP Hasanuddin Mohd Yunus says he had complied with all procedures before and after entering the country following his overseas trip to Turkey.
However, Hasanuddin said he would fully cooperate with health authorities investigating whether he had broken his home quarantine order after returning from an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Istanbul.
The Amanah vice-president said he had gone to the meeting with Besut MP Idris Jusoh and Pasir Mas MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari.
He said he was scheduled to return to Malaysia on Dec 11 but that he continued his journey to Iran and Pakistan before returning to Turkey and only subsequently made the trip back to Malaysia on Dec 21.
He said on arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), he filled in a detailed account of his journey on his MySejahtera and also showed a letter for quarantine exemption that he had applied earlier to staff at the health ministry (KKM) counter there.
The letter, Hasanuddin said, was collectively meant for him, Idris and Ahmad.
“Although the letter seemed to have expired as it was meant for arrival on Dec 11, the KKM staff told me the letter was still valid for up to a month (from Dec 11),” he told FMT.
“There are many SOPs at KLIA and I was told to undergo the test for Covid-19. That means, if my RT-PCR test came back negative, I would be exempted from quarantine.
“I took six RT-PCR tests before flying back and another at KLIA, which was negative (for Covid-19).
“If the letter was not valid, I would not have been allowed to take the test.
“I was subsequently allowed to leave the airport without the need to undergo home quarantine.”
Hasanuddin said he had repeatedly asked the KKM officers at KLIA for assurances on his quarantine status and he was also not instructed to wear the quarantine bracelet.
“They ushered me to the immigration counter for me to exit the airport, without any instructions to undergo home quarantine.”
Earlier today, health minister Khairy Jamaluddin told a press conference that a probe would be carried out to find out if Hasanuddin had broken his home surveillance order (HSO).
Khairy said the exemption from home quarantine was initially granted because of the test and release protocol for official travel.
However, the Crisis Response and Preparedness Centre (CPRC) then subsequently issued a home surveillance order to Hasanuddin on Dec 20.
This was because, according to him, Hasanuddin did not return on Dec 11 as stated in the letter, meaning the exemption had been “overridden”.
Khairy was asked if Hasanuddin had broken the quarantine order after he was reported to be on the ground doing flood relief work in his constituency. Khairy said Hasanuddin could be fined RM1,000 if he was found to have breached SOPs.
Hasanuddin said he did not wish to make things difficult and would cooperate fully with health authorities.
“I don’t want to blame anyone. If there is an investigation, then fine. I have all the necessary documents.
“I will comply completely. There’s no problem because I am among those who hold strongly to these SOPs.”
He added that, like other Malaysians, he had also filled in an online form for home quarantine before leaving the country.
“That means if anything were to happen when I was outside of the country, I was prepared to be put under home quarantine.”
Source: freemalaysiatoday
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