CORONAVIRUS | The remaining students who are still stranded in their campus accommodations will be allowed to return home slightly earlier on May 26, instead of May 28 as originally scheduled, said Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
“The meeting today decided to bring forward the return of these students and Higher Education Minister Noraini Ahmad have discussed with the airlines and, in the end, managed to get an agreement from them to fly home the students starting May 26,” he said in his daily press briefing on Covid-19 today.
Ismail said a total of 1,480 students are scheduled to be flown home on May 26, split into six flights.
There will be four flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu carrying 1,148 students and another two flights from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur with 332 students, he said.
Ismail assured that the students have all undergone swab tests for Covid-19 at their respective universities.
The government decided to fast track the return of these students, he said, because many parents and students had contacted him following his announcement that students were temporarily not allowed to return home from their campus accommodations.
Initially, the students would have been allowed to return on May 28, he said.
“Many parents and students on campus contacted me to plead with me because they want to go home. They said they would miss Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations for sure.
“They said May 28 would be the fourth day of Raya and there might not be any Raya mood anymore. All sorts of pleas,” Ismail said.
On a separate matter, he said that the National Unity and Integration Department has been tasked to come up with standard operating procedures (SOPs) in line with the Health Ministry’s protocols for the Rukun Tetangga committee to patrol their areas.
Ismail said this came after the Rukun Tetangga committee requested for them to be allowed to patrol their local areas.
The Rukun Tetangga is a program which empowers the community, he said, and the government welcomed their request to patrol their areas along with the authorities. - Mkini
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