LANGKAWI – As anticipation heightens over the government’s decision to reopen Langkawi’s tourism sector on September 16, a grassroots community group wants the move to be rescinded in view of the Covid-19 threat which is still not abating.
The Langkawi Community Association said it prefers that the island resort not reopen to domestic travellers as planned.
The move will make Langkawi the first holiday hotspot to reopen in Malaysia, following in the footsteps of other regional islands like Phuket in Thailand and Bali in Indonesia.
The association’s secretary Amar Pared Mahamud stressed that there are 974 active local cases. He said villagers are worried about different Covid-19 variants coming in to the island to infect even those who are fully vaccinated.
“Just recently, I lost two friends to Covid-19 even though they were double-dosed,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that a tourism bubble will be created on September 16 with Langkawi selected in a pilot project to revive tourism on Malaysia Day.
The island is among the first places in the country to attain herd immunity, with up to 87% of its population of 119,000 already fully vaccinated.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri is scheduled to unveil a uniform and updated version of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to mark the reopening of Langkawi later today.
She is also scheduled to visit the island resort next week.
Langkawi MP and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is also expected to return to the island to mark the occasion.
However, Amar Pared, who is also the island’s municipal councillor, said that it is best to lower the active caseload to about 50, keeping daily infections to a minimum before tourism can be allowed to resume.
He said this is to inject confidence among both residents and visitors.
“We are close to winning as now over 80% of the islanders are fully vaccinated,” he told The Vibes.
“We have herd immunity, but the surge in daily infections continues, and we cannot seem to get rid of the active caseload of about 1,000.”
He also said that tourists who bring their children along may be at risk as youngsters below the age of 18 have yet to be fully immunised.
Furthermore, there is an inadequate range of facilities on the island that can be converted to quarantine stations if there is a major outbreak of the coronavirus here, he claimed, saying that there are for example only 100 beds available at the Langkawi International Shooting Range.
Langkawi Business Association deputy president Datuk Alexander Issac disagreed, saying that there is no ideal time to reopen tourism because the virus will linger on for a foreseeable period, probably becoming an endemic later.
“We have to reopen. It makes no difference whether it is September 16, October 1, or December 1. We need to reopen to survive and for tourism to gradually recover,” he said.
What is needed now is a strict set of SOPs that everyone must comply with, he said – The Vibes, September 9, 2021.
