Tan Yit Sheng
KUCHING (June 13): The Sarawak government should consider giving authority to community leaders to issue compounds to individuals caught flouting the standard operating procedures (SOP) to stop the spread of Covid-19, said Kapitan Tan Yit Sheng.
Speaking to The Borneo Post today, he believed that by doing so, it could enhance the enforcement of SOP so as to ensure that everyone would comply with the guidelines and regulations.
“Community leaders including ‘tuai rumah’ and ‘ketua kampung’ in the longhouses and rural villages can be delegated to issue compounds to those found not complying with the SOP.
“This is to make sure a sterner compliance with the SOP instead of having the SOP in place but without better enforcement,” he said when asked to comment on the Movement Control Order (MCO) being extended until June 28.
Tan, who is Kuching Coffeeshop and Restaurant Owners Association committee member, also said the state government ought to mobilise its resources to help eligible businessmen, who lack the means, to apply for the financial aid being provided by Putrajaya.
According to him, many businessmen still do not know how to apply for the Wage Subsidy Programme (WSP) offered by the federal government.
He said this is the time for the Sarawak government to deploy its civil servants to the ground to help those who need their services.
“During this MCO, mobilise your resources by deploying officers to the ground to help businessmen apply for the WSP. This is a direct way of assisting the people during this pandemic.”
Tan asserted that the government ought to think and plan three steps ahead, akin to playing a chess game, when managing this pandemic.
Towards this end, he proposed that the government come up with programmes to guide the community how to survive along with the virus.
“Like it or not, Covid-19 is and will be there even after we are vaccinated. Hence, a more effective measure to cope with the pandemic would be teaching the people how to survive it.
“The government can draw up the plan first, then engage the community-based organisations to disseminate the useful information,” he said.
He added that the government must be more proactive in helping the people cushion the impact resulting from the pandemic.