KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government does not have any plan to allow people to travel beyond 10km from their homes in order to buy essential items for now, Local Government and Housing Minister Masidi Manjun said.
Masidi, who is the official spokesman on the state’s Covid-19 efforts, said the movement control order (MCO) was just imposed today and they are leaving it to the police to implement the restrictions.
He added that the decision on the 10km rule was made after careful study but the provision for people to obtain permission from police if they needed to travel to another district remains.
“For instance, Kota Kinabalu (KK) already covers three districts namely KK itself as well as the Penampang and Putatan districts – there are no travel restrictions between these districts.
“So we will give a chance to the police to implement the travel restrictions first but if there are any issues arising from this, we will consider,” he said, during his briefing today.
Masidi was responding to a statement earlier today by Sabah police chief Hazani Ghazali who said the police will ask the state government to relax the 10km-radius restriction to allow people to buy food items during the MCO.
Hazani said they will make the suggestion to the state security council, saying many districts in Sabah are large and that many had to travel more than 10km in order to acquire essential goods.
He added people must, however, bring along proof such as electricity or water bills to indicate their home address.
During the second phase of the MCO last year, the federal government had given the police leeway to use their discretion in allowing individuals to travel beyond 10km from their homes.
Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said then that while the restriction was a general rule, police were allowed to make exceptions in some cases.
He said people were allowed to travel more than the 10km radius to buy food at the nearest place if they cannot find food in their area.
Meanwhile, Masidi said Chief Minister Hajiji Noor will announce state aid to the B40 communities and other disadvantaged groups soon.
He said this was discussed in the state Cabinet meeting today and it was agreed such communities were in real need of assistance.
On whether there will be any help from the state to businesses affected by the MCO, Masidi said the government was also looking into it.
“But at this point of time, I can’t tell you if there is any. I can fully understand their problems, because they are allowed to open but don’t have customers.
“I’m sure the respective associations representing them would want to send memorandums to the government, and we will consider them favourably,” he said.
To another question, Masidi said Sabahans presently in the peninsula can return to the state at any time during the MCO period.
“They are allowed to come back to Sabah unrestricted provided they can find a flight and take the compulsory swab test three days before travelling.
“Sabahans who want to go back to the peninsula for work too can get permission to return if they are working in essential services,” he said. - FMT
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