MIRI (June 28): Another two Penan settlements and camps operating in Telang Usan constituency have been placed under total lockdown, said Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau.
According to him, the two settlements that have been placed under total lockdown are Long Lunyim and Long Tepen, while the two camps are known as Sambas Camp and Kejin Camp, which were placed under lockdown since last Friday.
Last week, two Penan settlements – Long Kevok and Long Luteng and a camp, known as Layun camp in the constituency were placed under lockdown following a spike in positive cases from the area.
Meanwhile, when commenting on the State Disaster Management Committee’s (SDMC) statement that 70 out of the 513 cases reported statewide yesterday were from Telang Usan, Dennis said it was the first time the constituency recorded a very high positive cases since the pandemic hit the country in January last year.
“99 per cent of the new cases reported yesterday included the Penans community. I have been constantly telling them about how catastrophic Covid-19 is, if they refuse to adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOP), and look at where we are now.
“The situation is critical especially around Sg Layun, Sg Patah, Temala and Sg Pelutan,” said Dennis.
He also appealed to those who have been identified as close contacts or those tested positive for Covid-19 to come forward and let the authorities concerned to take the next step.
Dennis said some of them who had either been identified as close contacts and tested positive for Covid-19 after last week’s mass screening in their respective settlements, refused to be brought down to quarantine centres in Miri.
“It is already difficult to track them down, and now another problem is making them coming down to Miri for the mandatory quarantine.
“On Saturday, I was told 20 of them refused to come down although transports had been arranged to go there to pick them up,” he added.
Dennis said they only agreed to be brought down for quarantine in Miri after being persuaded.
“I would also like to appeal to Penan community leaders and leaders of the churches to step forward by advising the communities on the importance to strictly follow the SOP and to cooperate with the authorities including the police and Ministry of Health (MOH).