BN’s Tanjung Karang MP Noh Omar urged the government to cease using documents issued by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) as valid movement permits for those going to work.
Noh said this is because there is no guarantee that the letter holders are free of Covid-19.
Instead, he proposed that a passport be issued by the Health Ministry to those who had conducted swab tests to prove they are free from Covid-19.
“For the MPs to attend the sitting at Parliament, we need to undergo a swab test even after we received vaccines.
“If this policy is implemented in Parliament, can the Health Ministry make some changes to the SOP?
“I think the letter issued by Miti must be stopped because there is no guarantee that those who carry Miti letters are free of Covid-19.
“Can the (Health) ministry come out with a new SOP? Those who travel to another state and go to work must have a passport.
“The passport must not come from Miti, but from the Health Ministry,” he said.
Apart from the factories, he said the passport should be given to small and medium enterprises and stall operators.
“We can have this new SOP besides maintaining (other) SOPs at the same time,” added Noh.
Miti, which was entrusted with issuing permits for businesses allowed to operate during various stages of the lockdown, came under fire for inefficiency in issuing the document.
Not only that but the ministry was also panned by the opposition and civil society for allowing too many factories to operate which some quarters believe had led to the sharp surge in Covid-19 cases at workplaces.
Yesterday, its minister Azmin Ali said that only 35,968 cases out of the 408,134 Covid-19 cases recorded between June 1 and July 23 were linked to the manufacturing sector.
Meanwhile, Noh, who is also a lawyer, also asked if the government was prepared for whatever consequences after it revoked all six emergency ordinances which were promulgated to allow the government to take swift action during the emergency.
"What is the preparation by the government to deal with the problem? For example, there was an ordinance for the government to take over private facilities, including taking over private laboratories to carry out Covid-19 testing.
"With these ordinances repealed, is the Health Ministry prepared to tackle the problems?" asked Noh.
Yesterday, de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan told the Dewan Rakyat that Putrajaya had revoked all the emergency ordinances that were promulgated under the emergency. - Mkini
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