Rapelson Richard Hamit
KUCHING (May 22): Persatuan Anak Istimewa Sarawak (PERAIS) is proposing that total movement control order (MCO) is imposed throughout the country.
Its president Rapelson Richard Hamit said the conditional movement control order (CMCO) being implemented by the Sarawak State Disaster Committee (SDMC) was confusing and inconsistent with the actual CMCO while the Covid-19 transmission cases in Malaysia and Sarawak are very worrying.
“We propose that a full MCO be implemented throughout the country to contain the spread of Covid-19.
“The CMCO in Sarawak confuses the public because, for example, people cannot dine-in at restaurants and other eateries, forcing many workers to take unpaid leave.
“The problem faced by this category of workers will go on indefinitely if the full MCO is not carried out.
“Similarly, the businesses of traditional massage centres operated by the visually impaired persons are also severely affected because they are also categorised under the entertainment industry, and not under health,” he said in a statement.
Rapelson said even the Gawai Dayak SOP issued by SDMC would not be effective if the total MCO was not implemented during the festive season, which could also cause positive cases to increase dramatically if not controlled from now.
He said Perais also urged the state government to provide assistance to Sarawakians if the full MCO is implemented to help those in need, especially the disabled, single mothers, the elderly, the poor and those without fixed income.
He said civil servants might not be affected because they are still being paid even if the full MCO is implemented.
“The government, therefore, should focus on the economic development and recovery as well as the well-being of people working in the private sector, self-employed, farmers and fishermen due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.