MIRI – Opposition parties Sarawak DAP and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) have criticised the state government for its lack of will to impose the movement control order to address Sarawak’s surge in Covid-19 infections.
Both have been very vocal on social media after the state Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) decided yesterday to not follow the directive by the National Security Council to impose the MCO in the Kuching, Sibu, Miri, Bintulu and Meradong districts.
PSB president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh said SDMC has been making “lame” decisions since last year, when the MCO from March to June was relaxed into a conditional MCO.
“The Covid-19 situation was better handled during the MCO last year. The number of cases was not high, only about 500.
“Now, the situation has gotten out of control. SDMC keeps changing the CMCO standard operating procedures, causing confusion among the public. If the MCO was imposed in certain districts, then the SOPs would be clear and precise for the public to obey.
“Now, the situation has become very messy and the Covid-19 pandemic is worrying,” said Wong, who is also Bawang Assan assemblyman.
Sarawak DAP also took SDMC to task for failing to tackle the Covid-19 surge.
Michael Kong, who is special assistant to state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, said it is clear SDMC is losing its willpower to deal with the pandemic.
“Despite the pandemic getting more serious by the day in terms of infections and fatalities, that has not prompted the SDMC to take sterner measures such as the MCO recommended by the National Security Council.
“The situation on the ground is really serious.”
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas, who is SDMC chairman, yesterday told a press conference in Kuching that the MCO is too difficult to enforce.
“We at SDMC have spoken to the NSC, saying that due to the size of our districts, we cannot effectively enforce the MCO.
“Enforcement was difficult during the first MCO.We told NSC that instead of enforcing an MCO, we will identify specific areas in high-risk districts for an enhanced MCO. We have directed the respective districts to identify these hotspots for EMCO.”
Uggah had said Kuching, Sibu, Miri, Bintulu, and Meradong would see certain locations come under lockdown.
He added that starting next Monday, all social or work meetings involving physical presence would be suspended for two weeks in Sarawak.
Inter-district travels would be banned barring essential services, he said.
Out of the 512 new cases yesterday, Bintulu district saw 120 cases, Sibu (99), Subis (80), Kuching (56), Miri (31), Kapit (30), Meradong (29), Serian (22), Kanowit (10), and other districts with fewer than 10 each.
There were two new deaths yesterday, bringing the death toll to 135.
The state health authorities and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak had also discovered three new variants of the coronavirus in Sarawak.
State Health Department director Dr Chin Zin Hing yesterday said that the new variants did not include the South African variant.
The existing Covid-19 vaccines are able to tackle the three new variants found so far, he had said.
Aside from the 135 deaths, Sarawak recorded some 21,500 positive infections as of yesterday. – The Vibes, April 16, 2021
