Sabah allows logging to go on during MCO period

 

Logging, transport of logs, and factory operations are permitted during the MCO period.

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government has allowed logging activities to proceed during the movement control order period.

Local Government and Housing Minister Masidi Manjun said all upstream operations are allowed namely logging, transport of logs, forest plantation development, forest rehabilitation, forest inventory and silviculture treatment.

He added downstream activities involving export-import and factory operations are also permitted during this period.

“The workforce allowed for this sector should only comprise 50% support workers and 30% management-level staff at any one time,” he said, in his daily Covid-19 briefing today.

He said they are allowed to operate from 6am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, with operations on the weekends subject to the approval of the respective district forestry officer.

“But jungle recreational activities such as hiking, fishing, jogging and cycling, among others, are not allowed,” Masidi said.

Food stalls, including roadside ones, and food trucks, hawkers and food courts have also been given the green light to operate during the MCO period. However, only take-aways or drive-throughs for people to buy food are allowed from 6am to 8pm daily.

Besides that, carwash activities are also permitted. Masidi said operators are required to control the entry of customers, adding they are only allowed to operate from 6am to 6pm.

On the construction sector, quarries are allowed to operate for only 12 hours from 6am daily.

Masidi said Kudat district hospital has returned to being a Covid-19 hospital, meaning there are nine such hospitals in Sabah now, while there are 38 low-risk treatment centres in the state. - FMT