KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal says the state will not back down from its stance on observing the initial movement control order (MCO) despite the directive from Putrajaya allowing most businesses to resume operations under a conditional version of it.
In response to a warning by senior minister Mohamed Azmin Ali yesterday, he said Sabah was not trying to pick a fight with the federal government.
Rather, he said, it was focused on saving lives.
“Our stand is quite clear. This is not the time to bicker over who has the power,” he said.
“I can spell out (the laws) because I too am a seasoned politician who has spent much time legislating laws in Parliament.
“But let’s not waste time on that. We need to move forward, and we need to manage the Covid-19 outbreak and our economy. We can’t look at only the business side of things but not the human lives,” he told reporters here today.
Azmin had said yesterday that state governments reluctant to comply with the federal policy to reopen the economy were not acting based on “lawful authority”.
He said the federal government policy had already been made into law and was enforceable throughout the country.
Azmin, who is minister for international trade and industry, also said state governments which did not comply risked being sued for damages by businesses.
However, Shafie said he was more worried about being sued by those who lost loved ones due to Covid-19.
“We can recover businesses but not lives. You can’t replace them once they’re gone.”
On a related issue, he denied that Putrajaya had consulted the state about replacing the MCO with a conditional MCO.
“Before the announcement was made, no one got in touch with me,” he said.
“We only knew of the decision when we saw it announced on television.”
He said consultations should have been held with the states, adding that “even (US President) Donald Trump consulted his governors”.
“We are the ones who are going to implement the decisions.
“But do they consider and understand the environment and capacity at the state levels before making those decisions?” - FMT
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