Soldiers place barbed wire around an apartment block under the EMCO. — Bernama photo
SIBU (May 28): The Bintulu Disaster Management Committee (BDMC) will no longer give any advance notice to areas to be placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) lockdown.
Bintulu MP Dato Sri Tiong King Sing said if such notices are given in advance, residents who are unwilling to be quarantined for 14 days would likely flee.
“In the event that they are indeed infected, they will potentially spread the Covid-19 virus elsewhere. So no more notice in advance for the lockdown,” he said in a media statement.
Tiong cited a longhouse where one resident was confirmed positive and admitted to hospital.
He said before the authorities could place the longhouse under quarantine, every single one of the residents had disappeared from the area.
Tiong pointed out that areas requiring immediate lockdown are those with extremely high numbers of confirmed cases.
He said Sungai Plan, which has been under lockdown for several days, had nearly 30 confirmed cases detected as of yesterday (May 27), including one death.
The deceased was admitted to hospital on May 20 and passed away on Wednesday (May 26), he said.
“All of these confirmed cases were asymptomatic patients. It is really difficult to imagine how many people would be infected if such people freely walked about.
“Therefore in order to prevent the pandemic from spreading further, a complete lockdown is the most effective measure in curbing cases,” he stressed.
Tiong said the authorities still detected a family trying to escape Sungai Plan via a jalan tikus (small unknown paths).
He concluded that this made the early notice strategy of announcing lockdowns unworkable and ineffective.
“I want to call on all residents to give their full cooperation for the sake of everyone’s health. It is not a game. If people do not help themselves, no one else will be able to save them.
“Does anyone feel their life is so worthless that they would rather tempt fate than cooperate with the SOPs to prevent Covid-19? The original intention of the Bintulu Disaster Management Committee is not to arrest anyone but to identify potential crises in the community and eradicate the problem,” he explained.
The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to China said personnel combating the pandemic can only do so much to protect lives and continue to do so out of duty and dedication.
On another matter, he said the Welfare Department would quickly distribute non-perishable essentials to each household under EMCO for two weeks, including related funds to those in locked down areas such as longhouses and low-cost housing.
He said shops in those areas would also be open to supply the basic needs and for families requiring special supplies such as infant milk formula and diapers, the Welfare Department would make the proper arrangements.
“I hope the people will not take advantage of their assistance and demand unreasonable requirements. In any case, the authorities will not ignore anyone’s concerns. Even in a lockdown, everyone’s needs will be met. Nobody wants the lockdown but it must be faced,” he said.
He pointed out residents in locked down areas with medical needs, such as Covid-19 vaccination or dialysis treatments would be granted access with the relevant documents or MySejahtera app.
Tiong also explained that Bintulu cannot follow Sarawak’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) as the situation in the division cannot use a one size fits all solution.
“We need to adjust the SOPs according to Bintulu’s unique situation and make adjustments going forward.
“The local outbreak will be suppressed more effectively only by implementing mass screening for different pandemic red zones to find all infected persons, even the asymptomatic ones, and place them into isolation and treatment in a timely manner,” he said.
Tiong said the authorities implementing lockdowns in Bintulu’s high-risk areas inevitably face verbal abuse.
“But they must continue with their jobs of protecting the people and stop people from losing their lives unnecessarily due to the outbreaks.
“If the people think that I have committed any abuse of power, they can report it to the right authorities, because my conscience is clear.
“What we are doing is for the health of everyone. For months, many people have threatened me, saying I will lose the next elections. I will not have any complaints if I lose the elections because I believe I have done my very best,” he said.
Tiong added Bintulu looked forward to achieving zero confirmed cases soon but it would require everyone to work together.