Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing
BINTULU (June 18): Enforcement to ban activities in rumah sewa and bilik sewa rental properties will be launched soon to curb the spread of Covid-19, said Bintulu MP Dato Sri Tiong King Sing.
He pointed out Bintulu recorded eight new Covid-19 cases from such rental accommodation yesterday.
“We must not take it easy and tolerate the emergence of cases in these areas. These bilik sewa have become a hotbed of new outbreaks.
“The respective owners of such housing must prepare themselves to face action by authorities.
“I also urge the Bintulu Development Authority to take immediate action to demolish illegal bilik sewa to avoid future outbreaks,” Tiong said in a press statement today.
He said owners of these bilik sewa must bear their share of the responsibility to prevent cases among their tenants.
They must be proactive in ensuring that their tenants comply with standard operating procedures (SOPs) to stop the spread of Covid-19 and maintain good hygiene in the area, he said.
Tiong stressed even more crucial is to strictly control the movement of people in and out of the rumah sewa, stop accepting new residents for now, and stop relatives and friends from other areas to stay.
“With so many people living in a single unit, it is already difficult to maintain social distancing. It gets worse when owners have to identify who among the newcomers are carriers of Covid-19.
“Once there is an outbreak, it can get very bad very quickly,” he explained.
Additionally, he said the authorities will continue to closely monitor housing areas with Covid-19 outbreaks.
“Once a housing area is identified to be at high risk of an outbreak, they need to quickly implement full lockdowns like the ones placed on Sungai Plan and PPR Taman Bandaria to effectively curb further transmissions,” he said.
“In specific housing areas, particularly high-risk ones where confirmed cases appear daily, we cannot hesitate to implement lockdowns and conduct mass testings to halt the spread of the coronavirus.”
He pointed out that Covid-19 does not discriminate between the rich or poor, or between ethnic groups.
“Everyone is at risk and the authorities must treat all affected areas equally if the Enhanced Movement Control Order is required to totally contain an outbreak when it happens for the life and health of the whole community,” he added.
He also said the Dinner World vaccination centre has adopted a simpler procedure.
Once vaccine recipients arrive at the venue for their appointments, they will immediately receive consent forms and a queue number, as well as update their vaccination status on the MySejahtera app with the help of personnel in attendance.
“We hope that the new procedures can speed up the entire vaccination process to make it easier for everyone and reduce crowds at these vaccination centres.
“However, it is still very important for recipients to go at their appointed times to avoid causing unnecessary crowding and allow the vaccination programme to be carried out smoothly,” Tiong said.