Dr Abdul Rahman (fourth left) presenting ‘bubur lambuk’ and basic food aid to a resident.
KUCHING (May 3): It is not appropriate to place the whole state of Sarawak under the Movement Control Order (MCO) given the number of frontliners that will be involved and the vast areas across the state, said Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi.
The Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs and Kuching North City Commission) believed that the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) had put in place the best approach to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
“Even though an official decision has not been made, SDMC may not be announcing that an MCO will be enforced throughout the state.
“This is because our state of Sarawak is big and this may pose some challenges in the enforcement of MCO as we may face shortage of frontliners in discharging their duties,” he said at a ‘bumbur lambuk’ event held at Kampung Rampangi Phase I here yesterday.
A national English daily yesterday quoted sources as reporting that several states including Sarawak would be placed under MCO, effective today.
Deputy Chief Minister and SDMC chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, when contacted by The Borneo Post, however said that Sarawak remained under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) unless a different decision was made later.
Dr Abdul Rahman, who is also Assistant Minister of Utilities, expressed confidence that SDMC would tighten the existing standard operating procedures (SOP) to contain the spread of Covid-19 in Sarawak.
“If enforcement and SOP can be further tightened, we should be able to break the chain of Covid-19 infection.”
He was glad to note that the SDMC had set up a Covid-19 One Stop Centre at the Dewan Masyarakat here.
According to him, this One-Stop Centre will serve as a platform to gather information so as to facilitate relevant processes.
If this centre proves to be a success, Dr Abdul Rahman, who is Pantai Damai assemblyman, said similar centres would be set up in other divisions across Sarawak.
During the event, which was organised by the Sarawak National Youth Organisation (Saberkas) Pantai Damai Branch, he handed out 400 containers of ‘bubur lambuk’ to residents there.
He also gave away basic food aid to eligible recipients under the Saberkas Prihatin programme.
The post Dr Abdul Rahman: Not appropriate to implement another MCO in S’wak appeared first on Borneo Post Online.