By Olivia Miwil - January 12, 2022 @ 7:47pm
KOTA KINABALU: Severe punishment should be imposed against perpetrators involved in the issuance of fake vaccination digital certificates, said Sabah MCA chairman Datuk Dr Pamela Yong.
She said Wanita MCA acknowledged the efforts of the Sabah Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in remanding a 31-year-old male suspect as part of its probe into a syndicate which allegedly bribed a volunteer at a vaccination centre to issue fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates on the MySejahtera app.
"Nevertheless, we are also saddened and dismayed that such cases can even permeate in the Land Below the Wind in complete defiance of public health and security issues.
"Throw the book at the perpetrators. Then only will these offenders come to their senses that jail time is many times tougher than quarantine or Movement Control Order, albeit marginally better than losing one's life," she said in a statement.
She also called on the health and anti-corruption authorities to investigate the possible widespread of counterfeit certificates.
For purchasers of the fraudulent vaccination certificates, Yong said they believed that it would empower them with mobility or ease of landing jobs.
However, she said that they failed to realise that the syndicates and those involved in selling the identification of non-vaccinated persons had put public health and people's lives at risk thereby heaving further pressures on the country's already heavily burdened public hospitals and making a mockery out of the sacrifices of healthcare frontliners.
"Likewise, commercial outfits, education institutes, and the people are at risk of quarantine, closure, financial losses, interrupted learning, should any of them contract the infectious disease, or, if another new movement control order is imposed once cases in Sabah see a phenomenal jump.
"Moreover, Sabah's borders are porous especially given the state's proximity with islands off Mindanao (southern Philippines) which has experienced intrusions of terrorists and illegals.
"Thus, the possibility of further clusters among the water villages by unvaccinated persons who hold fake vaccination documentation cannot be denied or taken lightly."
Yong urged buyers of falsified Covid-19 vaccination certs to own up to authorities, get inoculated and aid the authorities by providing them information on acquiring the fake certificates.
She also urged for a hotline or portal to be established to check the authenticity of the certificates and for the public to report any suspicion of foul play.
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