31) 'FIX PROBLEM AFFECTING THOSE DECLARED BANKRUPT PRIOR TO 2017' - NEW STRAITS TIMES - 31/01/2023
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) has urged the government and Insolvency Department to address the issue of those who were declared bankrupt prior to 2017.
PPIM chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan said the amendments to the Insolvency Act 1967 in 2017 appeared to have sidelined their rights.
He said this is all the more worrying as those declared bankrupt had also included youths as well as those up to 75-years-old.
He said those declared bankrupt after 2017 had benefited from the amendments to the Act, such as Section 33C which releases a person from bankruptcy after three years.
"However, those who were bankrupt before 2017 have to endure 15 years of case management at the Insolvency Department before they can be freed from bankruptcy.
"By rights, younger people should be given a second chance (at being bankrupt-free) while the elderly should be given an automatic release due to their age and health," he said at a press conference at PPIM's office today.
Nadzim hoped that Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and the Insolvency Department can address the issue.
"We are confident that the minister can address this as she was responsible for fine-tuning the Insolvency Act 1967 in 2017.
"Before this, those declared bankrupt had no future and did not have any means to restart their lives.
"We hope that the unity government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim can give serious attention to resolving this," he said.
Article by: New Straits Times
'FIX PROBLEM AFFECTING THOSE DECLARED BANKRUPT PRIOR TO 2017'
