Masidi Manjun
KOTA KINABALU: Travelling between Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and Penampang is not allowed effective tomorrow (June 7).
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said the State Government through the Sabah Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee has decided that Kota Kinabalu, Putatan and Penampang would not longer be categorized as one district.
“The decision was made after taking into account the number of positive Covid-19 cases in the three districts which exceeded 70 today.
“In effort to reduce unnecessary travel, the public will not be allowed to cross district except for essential services and essential goods.
“Beginning tomorrow (June 7), the police will implement tight inspection to enforce the cross-district ban involving the three districts.”
In view of the increase in Covid-19 cases that exceeded 305 infections and six new clusters on Sunday, Masidi said the State Government through the Sabah Covid-19 Disaster Management Committee had decided to standardize the business operation hours throughout Sabah.
Masidi, who is also Sabah’s official Covid-19 spokesperson, said restaurants, cafes, eateries, food stalls, food trucks, hawkers, food courts, convenience stores, food delivery services, takeaways and drive-thru would be allowed to operate from 9am to 6pm only.
Public markets and daily markets can only open from 6am to 3pm.
Shopping malls are not allowed to open, except for supermarket, hypermarket, departmental store with food and beverage section, essential items, pharmacy, personal care, convenience stores, mini marts and restaurants for takeaway and delivery service in the building, which are allowed to operate from 9am to 6pm.
Supermarkets, hypermarkets, pharmacies, personal care shops and departmental stores are only allowed to open their food, beverage and essential items sections from 9am to 6pm.
The same goes for restaurants, hawkers stalls, food outlets, laundromat (including self-service), other speciality retail stores (petrol stations), pets care and food shops, optical shops, hardware stores, automobile workshops, service and spare part shops, e-commerce, wholesale and distribution of essential products and services, electric and electronic stores, books and stationery shops, car distribution and sales centres, prayer and funeral equipment stores, car wash centres, handphone sales and repair shops, which can operate from 9am to 6pm.
As for the SOP for fishery activities, Masidi said only fishermen registered with the Department of Fisheries Sabah in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) are allowed to operate in permitted jetties from 6am to 2pm from June 6 to 14, subject to the issuance of permits by the district police chief.
Meanwhile, he said the Sabah Fish Marketing Sdn Bhd (Safma) Complex in Kota Belud was allowed to operate from 12.01am to 7pm, whereas coastal and deep sea fishermen and aquaculture operators except for those in the ESSZone could operate for 24 hours.
Recreational fishing activities, marine parks, exhibition and aquariums, non-conventional ships (NCS) from the Philippines and Indonesia for barter trade and transhipment are not allowed to operate, he said.
On another note, Masidi said the State Government had instructed 30 per cent of state civil servants to be present at their respective organizations while the remaining 70 per cent to work from home effective immediately, following the rise of Covid-19 cases among government servants and the emergence of clusters across the districts.
He added that state and federal civil servants as well as private sector employees would not be allowed to travel between Sabah and Labuan for work for the duration of the Movement Control Order 3.0 (MCO 3.0) effective immediately.
“This is to curb the spread of Covid-19 involving a couple who travelled between Sabah and Labuan, which resulted in six cases in Kg Manggis, Kuala Penyu.”