MIRI – It has been found that longhouse folk are using rivers to escape the current movement control order (MCO), which may be one of the reasons many of the settlements continue to see the spread of infections.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk James Jemut Masing said he has uncovered cases of people living in riverine longhouses in the Kapit division in central Sarawak blatantly defying the lockdown everyday.
“These longhouse folk are using rivers as escape routes since the roads are cordoned off by police roadblocks,” he said.
“There are people bent on escaping longhouse lockdowns to go to the towns using their longboats and speedboats to freely get out.
“This could be one of the reasons Covid-19 infections continue to spread in the longhouses and towns.
“There is an urgent need to control movement along the rivers too, not just on land,” he said during his visit to Kapit town today.
Many end up in town for casual outings, usually having food and drinks.
Masing said he had alerted the Sarawak Rivers Board to beef up patrols along the rivers.
There are many longhouses located along river banks, with large populations of these folks having boats, he said.
Kapit is one of the rural zones badly hit by Covid-19 infections, even seeing deaths in recent weeks.
Masing said for the MCO to be fully effective, there must be thorough control of movement of the rural population, not just the urban residents, as the infection surge is equally bad in both urban and rural locations.
Sarawak will follow the move by the federal government to extend the MCO for another two weeks.
State Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas had announced in Kuching that the MCO in Sarawak will also be extended to June 28.
Putrajaya had last night announced that the MCO, which began at the start of this month for two weeks, will go on from June 14 until June 28. – June 12, 2021
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