Phoong
KOTA KINABALU: Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe raised concerns over the recent announcement by the Sabah State Government that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s (MITI) approval letter is no longer necessary for inter-district travel on June 7.
“It is clear that there is a miscommunication between the state government and PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police). PDRM is unclear of the decision of the state government, therefore triggering a public turmoil,” said the Democratic Action Party (DAP) representative.
Phoong told the media that he had been continuously receiving calls from the public on Tuesday morning as they were instructed by the authorities to show their MITI approval letter.
“This would be a great inconvenience to both the public and PDRM. PDRM even warned the public that they would be compounded if they cannot show their MITI approval letter but the state government announced that it is unnecessary, who should they listen to?” said the former Sabah Minister of Youth and Sports.
He appeals to the state government to coordinate with PDRM that is in charge of the road blocks to ensure that no innocent workers would be compounded due to miscommunications.
“The public is innocent and if the state government is firm on their decision, they must communicate with PDRM. The public should not bear the responsibility for the government’s decision,” said Phoong.
The former minister complimented Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun for emulating efforts from the previous government led by Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
“Deciding on which industries are allowed to operate is the autonomous power of the state government, it has been exercised since the first lockdown by the former Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
“Therefore, the state government must be firm and ensure that PDRM is well informed on their latest decision. This is to prevent any misunderstandings from happening,” he said.
Phoong added that he had already conveyed the concerns to Masidi.
“I communicated with the state minister and he also agreed that this issue must be resolved immediately to prevent any further misunderstandings,” said Phoong.
He also questioned whether the government would compensate these affected essential workers if they were to be compounded.
“If there is anyone compounded due to the miscommunication between PDRM and the state government, would the government compensate these innocent citizens?”
The DAPSY Sabah chief also stated that the federal government must respect the decisions made by the state government.
“The federal government must decentralise autonomy to the state government, especially in designing SOPs and policies to contain the pandemic. PDRM should also try their best to cooperate with the state government,” said the Luyang representative.