CORONAVIRUS | A cement company worker, who was detained for violating the movement control order (MCO) last week, came home today only to find that it has been put under a total lockdown.
The man, who only identified himself as Kumar (above), 37, said he was released this morning and returned to his apartment unit in Taman Sri Murni, Kuala Lumpur where his wife and three children were waiting for him.
"But when I arrived, I was told by the police and soldiers on duty at the blockade here that I cannot enter my house," he told Malaysiakini when met at the location this afternoon.
Taman Sri Murni is the latest area to be put under an enhanced MCO starting today.
According to Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is in charge of security cluster, the lockdown has been set for 14 days until May 3 and involves eight parcels in the area.
Under an enhanced MCO, no one in the area is allowed to leave nor can anyone enter.
According to Kumar, the police and Armed Forces personnel who stopped him had showed him sympathy, but they said that they still had to enforce the order.
He claimed that his flat building, Block 3, was where a Covid-19 death case was reported recently, involving a foreigner who died at the Selayang Hospital.
"They (law enforcement) said they have to do their job, and I cannot be allowed to enter the area. I was also told that the health authority is conducting Covid-19 screening tomorrow, and perhaps I can enter my house after it finishes.
"For now I would have to stay at my uncle's house, also in Selayang area, maybe spend the night there and see how it goes tomorrow," he said, adding that he had been allowed to send some food to his family to survive on while inside the enhanced MCO.
Asked on why he was detained, Kumar said he went to a friend's house in Prima Selayang last Thursday, when police arrested all five of them for gathering during the MCO.
Residents not informed beforehand
Meanwhile, it is learned that the residents of the area were caught unprepared by the enhanced MCO.
A resident who only wanted to be identified as Sharma (above) told Malaysiakini that he only knew about not being allowed to leave the area when he wanted to go to work this morning.
"I was leaving for work at about 9am, when I saw the whole area had been barricaded using steel barricades and barbed wires.
"A soldier and police personnel manning the entrance then told me that the place has been locked down and I was not allowed to leave," said Sharma, who works at a private company in Damansara.
According to him, many of the residents only knew of the lockdown in the morning.
"There was no announcement. We are not prepared," he said.
Sharma said that his family does not have enough groceries to last throughout the enhanced MCO.
Asked if they have received food aid, he said they have yet to get any assistance.
He had to ask a friend who works as a food delivery rider to help him purchase diapers and milk formula for his two children.
Meanwhile, Malaysiakini's visits to the area found that many food delivery riders stopped by security personnel at a T-junction in front of SK Sri Murni.
They were not allowed to enter the area, and have to call their customers to come to the blockade to pick up their orders.
However, in several cases, the orders had to be cancelled as residents at several blocks were not allowed to even leave their buildings.
According to a rider who only wanted to be named as Syafiq, this happened in cases where the customers live at buildings where positive Covid-19 cases were detected. - Mkini
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