SARIKEI (May 29) : Rumah Cherida in Sungai Mador, Merdong near here had been endorsed by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to participate in the Covid-19 Green Zone Community contest organised by National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).
Sarikei Resident Felicia Tan Ya Hua conveyed the good news to residents of Rumah Cheirda when she visited the longhouse on Friday, adding that SDMC would sign up Rumah Cherida to contest the rural category.
The decision was made after SDMC had made assessment on several potential villages and longhouses in the state and Rumah Cherida had impressed the selection panel, she said.
One area where Rumah Cherida stood out and earned the ticket to represent the state was high level of discipline displayed by its residents when the longhouse was placed under enhanced movement control order (EMCO) recently, Tan said.
“When placed under EMCO for a period of 14 days, the residents had given their full cooperation by complying strictly with the standard operating procedure (SOP),” she said.
“The exemplary attitude of the longhouse folk had effectively halted Covid-19 transmission within the longhouse, hence throughout the EMCO period, there was no new case recorded,” she further commended.
“SDMC must have been impressed to note that the longhouse folk were fully aware that strict compliance with SOP was an effective way to break the chain of Covid-19 infection in the community that they even considered paying last respects to loved ones who passed away was not a reason to compromise the SOP,” she added.
In regards to the contest, Tan said that it was announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last April.
The contest was organized by Nadma in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Ministry of Rural Development.
Twenty winners in the rural category and 14 in the urban category would be picked and each stood to get RM50,000 in the form of development projects she said, adding that the organiser had allocated a total of RM1.7 million for the prizes.
Among those present were Sarikei Divisional Health Officer Dr Emmanuel Joseph Fong, Meradong Disrict Police Chief DSP Sekam Anoi and heads of various departments.