Association working closely with govt on hotels-turned-quarantine centres

At 6.05pm today, Free Malaysia Today published an inaccurate article titled “Hotel group not aware of RM150 ‘subsidy’ for quarantine stay”, reporting that the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) is not aware that the government would only subsidise the stay of those under Covid-19 quarantine at a cost of RM150, as opposed to paying for the room in full.

The FMT reporter made the assumption based on MAH’s reply by saying “that’s not what we were briefed”, in response to an earlier statement made by Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

MAH would like to clarify that the association and its members are well aware of the room rate for the stays, complete with three meals daily, as per the government’s approved budget and agreed upon by its member hotels participating in the initiative.

“MAH was in discussion with the tourism, arts and culture ministry (Motac) from day one and had been kept well informed of the government’s intentions.

Hotels participating as quarantine centres agreed to the rate partially as our corporate social responsibility (CSR), serving the government’s needs.

On reported complaints and concerns by the general public residing at locations of these hotel-turned-quarantine centres, we would like to say that these hotels are supervised by the health ministry and the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).

The returning Malaysians placed under quarantine are not patients, under the mandatory quarantine. They are to remain in the hotel room for the entire 14 days, with no one going in or out of the rooms.

Being gazetted as quarantine centres also means that the property will be under close surveillance before, during and immediately after the quarantine period.

Hotels are suitable alternatives due to their support systems and standard operating procedures in place, in addition to providing a more comfortable and well-equipped quarantine stay for Malaysians returning home.

The public should be more concerned about unregulated home-sharing activities like airbnb in residential areas, where there are no records or control of who is staying, where they are from, or where they had been prior to arriving.

MAH has cautioned the authorities earlier that such activities could jeopardise the government’s efforts in stopping the spread of Covid-19.

Airbnb last reported over 53,000 listings in Malaysia.

Apartment and condominium managements need to relook their priorities and impose house rules restricting home-sharing to protect their permanent residents and their families.

The Covid19 is a wake-up call for everyone to make the necessary changes and be prepared for the future.

Yap Lip Seng is CEO of Malaysian Association of Hotels. - FMT

✍ Credit given to the original owner of this post : ☕ Malaysians Must Know the TRUTH

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