KUCHING | Sarawak’s policy to only allow fully-vaccinated individuals to enter or work in business premises in the state does not contravene human rights or fundamental liberties enshrined in the Federal Constitution, says the state disaster management committee.
It also said the policy was a temporary measure to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Sarawak as daily cases had spiked to more than 1,500 and the death toll reached 510 in recent weeks.
“This shows that a new standard operating procedure (SOP) is essential, where the government can only allow fully-vaccinated Sarawakians to enter business premises and to go to work for the benefit of the public overall, and to reduce the burden on already strained healthcare facilities.
“This does not in any way deprive or deny unvaccinated individuals their fundamental rights absolutely, as they may enjoy such privileges by getting themselves vaccinated.
“Vaccines are now available, including by walking-in to any vaccination center in the state,” the committee said in a statement on Friday (Aug 27).
It was rebutting claims by Parti Bumi Kenyalang president Voon Lee Shan on Thursday (Aug 26) that the policy was unlawful as well as discriminatory, and also created two classes of society.
Voon said that the move went against human rights and questioned whether it contravened Article 8 of the Constitution on equality before the law.
However, the committee said the equality provision was not absolute and permitted certain distinctions within the parameters of the law, such as in the present situation to contain the rising spread of Covid-19 in the state.
It also said individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to medical reasons may present supporting documents from registered medical practitioners to be given the benefit of working or entering business premises, although they were discouraged from doing so in view of the risk of community transmission at present.
To date, 90.7% of Sarawak’s adult population have received the first dose of the vaccine and 87.3% are fully vaccinated.
