By Karen Bong
KUCHING, May 28: The federal government and sponsor agencies will bear the total cost of hotel accommodations for quarantine for returning Malaysian graduates from abroad.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob informed that the special cabinet meeting today had decided that 50 per cent of the hotel accommodation cost where the returning sponsored students will be placed under mandatory quarantine for 14 days will be borne by their sponsors.
“The sponsor agencies such as JPA will bear 50 per cent of the hotel fees while the (federal) government will pay for the other 50 per cent.
“So parents don’t have to worry about having to cover the accommodation cost for the entire 14 days when their children return from abroad,” he told a press conference on the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) today.
Ismail noted that before this many sponsored students overseas who have graduated and need to return home have applied to be exempted from paying for the hotel fees.
“So now we have decided that their sponsors will be paying 50 per cent of the total quarantine costs,” he reiterated.
He reported that students who have completed their studies and graduated were among the 18,000 Malaysians abroad who have registered with Malaysian embassies across the world to fly home.
“Apart from the sponsored students, those who have registered have also signed the letter of agreement to bear half of the hotel cost for quarantine,” he explained.
Meanwhile, a total of 43,025 Malaysians returning to the country have undergone mandatory quarantine since April 30. Up until today, 34,445 individuals have completed the 14-days quarantine and allowed to go home.—DayakDaily
