KUCHING (July 6): Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian has cautioned that the state’s aim to progress to next phase of National Recovery Plan (NRP) could be delayed if there is a large Covid-19 cluster.
Citing the newly-declared Industry 121 Kuala Baram Cluster as an example, he said it would only take one irresponsible party to stop Sarawak from achieving the threshold of moving into the next phase of the NRP.
“Cluster Industry 121, Kuala Baram is not the first and will not be the last. It shows you just need one irresponsible person or company to put the whole NRP, not just Miri but potentially Sarawak, one step further away from #Freedom, Phase Three and Four of NRP.
“In a public health crisis like now, the public should have the right to know the name and location of the offending culprits,” he wrote in his Facebook page last night.
Dr Sim, who is also Local Government and Housing Minister, pointed out the enforcement regarding the compliance of the standard operating procedures (SOP) to prevent Covid-19 should not just fall on the shoulders of the Health Department alone as their hands are full during this pandemic.
He hoped that every enforcement agency would work together and step up their enforcement duties as they have been delegated to do their job under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Disease Act 1988 (Act 342).
SDMC in its daily update yesterday (July 5) revealed Covid-19 targeted screening at a plywood factory in Kuala Baram has yielded 113 cases, which is almost a quarter of the 424 new infections in Sarawak for that day.
SDMC pointed out that of the 113 cases at the factory, 107 cases involved foreigners and the rest locals, adding that the workers’ quarters have been placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) until July 15.
“The EMCO affects about 210 individuals to stop the spread of Covid-19. Industry 121 Cluster, Kuala Baram has also been declared,” said SDMC in its daily update.
SDMC said the factory in Miri had been ordered to close until July 19 and it had been issued a compound of RM10,000 for failing to seek approval from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development to operate at more than 50 per cent workforce capacity.