Sabah inter-district travel ban was our call, says Masidi

 

Sabah government says it needs to put in place a proper tracing mechanism when undocumented migrants start to move around in Sabah again.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah local government and housing minister Masidi Manjun has explained that the state Covid-19 management committee recommended for the inter-district travel ban to remain in the state.

Masidi, who is also the state’s official Covid-19 spokesman, said this decision was taken into consideration as Sabah had a large presence of undocumented migrants.

“The number appears to be stabilising but give us a couple of days to monitor the situation,” he said, when contacted.

“Our situation in Sabah is a bit more complicated than Peninsular Malaysia with the presence of many undocumented aliens. We need to put in place some form of tracing mechanism when these people start to move around in Sabah again.

“We will consider making adjustments to the SOPs from time to time to facilitate economic activities that may require some travel.”

Senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob earlier today said the inter-district travel ban will be lifted, except for Sabah. It will come into effect on March 5. Interstate travel is, however, still prohibited nationwide.

Ismail also announced that Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang will no longer be under the movement control order (MCO) but instead be placed under conditional MCO (CMCO) starting Friday.

Similarly, Melaka, Pahang, Terengganu, Sabah, Putrajaya and Labuan will now scale down from CMCO to recovery MCO (RMCO).

Following the announcement, netizens have bombarded the defence ministry’s Facebook page, criticising the decision on the inter-district travel ban in Sabah only, calling it unfair.

Sabah Employers Association president Yap Cheen Boon said it was inconceivable that Sabah is the only state unable to have inter-district travel when local tourism and localised services rely on locals to travel across districts in order to recover from the current economic slump.

“Sabah’s infection numbers have been low when compared with other states, hence, the logic to defy inter-district travel for the state is hard to fathom.

“Businesses, even though they are allowed inter-district travel with official company letters and approvals from local authorities, would surely benefit without the paperwork, thereby saving costs.

“Now that Sabah is under RMCO, the measures should be more relaxed instead of being singled out with tighter control,” he said.

Sabah Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) chairman Lawrence Chin agreed, saying lifting the inter-district restriction will help save the hospitality industry in the state.

“Matta urges the government to implement a more comprehensive and holistic framework balancing lives and livelihoods.

“Every business establishment should be allowed to carry out their economic activity but by embracing the highest level of safety standards to contain Covid-19,” he said.

Sabah Tourist Association chairman Tony Chew said the government could ban travels to districts with higher infection cases instead of imposing a total inter-district travel ban.

“It’s not fair. At the moment, even with tourism activities being allowed recently, the lack of major support from inter-district travellers will not help the industry.

“It is expected that a majority of the tourism stakeholders are not able to survive as they had already been crippled from January to May last year,” he said. - FMT