Minister: Act 446 still in force, enforcement on-going

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Human Resources has denied reports by news portals that it has suspended the enforcement of the Workers Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities (Amendment) 2019 (Act 446).

Minister Datuk Seri

M Saravanan said the act was still in force and enforcement operations were being carried out constantly to ensure compliance with the set Covid-19’s standard operating procedures (SOP).

“There is a report by an online portal that the ministry has suspended the enforcement of the act, which is not true.

“There are also news portal reports claiming that the increase in the number of Covid-19 clusters was due to the suspension. This is not true and has caused confusion among the people,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Saravanan said Act 446 came into effect in June 2020 and employers were given a threemonth grace period until Aug 31, 2020, before it was fully enforced in September 2020.

However, following the emergence of the Teratai Cluster earlier this year, he said the government was of the view that Act 446 could serve as a medium to break the Covid-19 infection chain.

Saravanan said this had lead to the gazetting of amendments to Act 446 as part of the Emergency Ordinance.

“In this regard, on Feb 25, Act 446 was gazetted as part of the Emergency Ordinance, which was also enforced in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said. Act 446 is implemented to address housing management issues through stricter enforcement action.

Saravanan said action would be taken against the news portals should they are found to have published false information regarding the matter.