Vincent Lau (left) chatting with Senator Robert Lau at the SJK Kwong Hua PPV.
SIBU (June 26): Temenggong Dato Vincent Lau Lee Ming hopes that the government would not extend the Movement Control Order (MCO) once it ended on June 28.
The Chinese community leader told reporters today that the longer the MCO goes on, the more damage it would inflict to the already declining economy as well as the livelihood of the people.
“Even though we had been under MCO for quite some time and yet the result shows that the situation is still not improving.
“Maybe the government is taking this issue incorrectly. During MCO, only essential services are allowed to open and if this continues, it will create a lot of damages to the economy, people are losing their jobs and their livelihood.
“Since the vaccination is in progress, the government should allow more businesses to open and to ensure that cases can continue to go down, all coffee shops, restaurants, all commercial industries must adhere strictly to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),” he said after visiting the SJK Kwong Hua Covid-19 vaccination centre here.
Lau suggested that if the Covid-19 situation is still not improving, the government could consider implementing the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) or Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO).
The idea was to allow businesses to open gradually instead of continuing to wait until 70 per cent of the population being vaccinated to open up all businesses, he explained.
“Vaccination and slowly allowing more businesses to open should go concurrently. Do not wait for 70 per cent of the population to get vaccinated before allowing businesses to open.
“If you wait, it will take three or four months. If Sarawak can achieve herd immunity by August, this is of course very good, but I think there are still challenges,” he said.
Lau also believed that if people strictly adhere to the MCO standard operating procedures (SOP), the number of new Covid-19 cases could go down.
He also suggested to the government that those who have been fully vaccinated or completed their two doses should be allowed to do inter-district or inter-division, or even inter-state travel.
He said continuing to prohibit traveling would also substantially effect the economy.
“This would also encourage more people to register for vaccination. As from my understanding there are still many people who have yet to register for vaccination,” he said.
Lau nonetheless commended the government’s effort in providing vaccination to the people throughout Sarawak, and hoped that more people would register for vaccination.
“It is the only way to suppress the pandemic and people must continue to follow the SOP,” he said.