By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Nov 9: The Sarawak government has introduced the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the bill was introduced to assist those faced with difficulties during the imposition of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to perform statutory duties or obligations.
“For example, section 6A(4) of the Land Code which provides that if any application for Native Territorial Domain (NTD) is rejected by the Director, an appeal to the Minister must be made within 30 days from the date of such rejection.
“If the 30 days period expires between March 18, 2020 and August 31, 2020, the appeal period is extended until December 31, 2020.
“Clause 8 of the Bill allows for alternative arrangement in regards to convening, holding or conducting statutory meetings.
“For example, the statutory meeting required under Regulation 2 of the Regulations of the Board of Trustees under the Charitable Trusts Ordinance, 1994 (Cap. 7) which requires the Board of Trustees to convene a meeting at least once every six months.
“With this clause 8, such meetings may be conducted online using various applications such as Zoom and Skype,” he said during the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting at the DUN Complex here today.
Uggah who is also Second Finance Minister added Clause 9 of the Bill gave the State Cabinet the power to amend the Schedule, where the State Cabinet may by notification in the Gazette, amend the Schedule.
He noted with the passing of the bill, it will allow for temporary measures to be enforced, including to modify the relevant provisions in the Ordinances referred to in the Schedule.
Uggah who is also Modernisation Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister said the Bill, once passed, would be deemed to have come into force on March 18 2020 and shall remain in force for a period of two years from the date of its publication.
Uggah said the law will remain in force and Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg may make the necessary extension in the event Covid-19 remains after two years.
Uggah noted many businesses and services in Malaysia were facing difficulties during the imposition of the MCO.
As a result, he said the federal government had also introduced the Temporary Measures to Reduce the Impact of Coronavirus 2019 Act 2020 (Covid-19 Act).
He said the Parliament has passed the Covid-19 Act on October 22.
Nonetheless, Uggah explained that the Covid-19 Act only applied to the extent where federal laws were applicable to states and it does not include state laws.
Hence, he said the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020 was introduced by the Sarawak government to complement the Covid-19 Act and to provide further temporary relief from obligation under state ordinances not covered by Covid-19 Act.
He disclosed that there were 11 state laws that were affected if the bill were not tabled.
They are the Native Courts Ordinance, 1992; Local Authorities Ordinance, 1996; Land Use (Control of Prescribed Trading Activities) Ordinance, 1997; Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1998; National Parks and Nature Reserves Ordinance, 1998; Veterinary Public Health Ordinance, 1999 and the State Fisheries Ordinance, 2003; Minerals Ordinance, 2004; Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Ordinance, 2013 and Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations, 2014; Forests Ordinance, 2015 and Land Code. —DayakDaily
