By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, April 26: Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) is calling on the Sarawak government to appoint competent professionals to manage the Covid-19 pandemic in Sarawak instead of politicians.
Its president Lina Soo in a statement today said the level of Covid-19 management displayed by State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) was slack, at times shoddy and downright incompetent.
Hence, she said the people wanted to see SDMC playing a more proactive role in curbing Covid-19 in the State.
“Covid-19 management warrants vigilance and fast action at all times.
“A lot of the cases could have been prevented if SDMC had not changed policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs) at will and wantonly.
“With conflicting policies and information which are not timely and consistently inconsistent, the public are bewildered and confused at a time when they are looking to the government for comfort and leadership.
“We don’t need more unnecessary data, we want to know what are the actions SDMC will take to stem the virulent spread. We want solutions,” Soo said.
Soo believed the Covid-19 infection in Sarawak would not have been so widespread if SDMC had been vigilant and consistent in its SOPs.
She opined blunders and omissions had been committed which had aided the virulent spread of Covid-19 throughout communities and longhouses all over Sarawak, affecting almost all districts and even remote areas.
She also noted the number of Covid-19 cases amongst healthcare workers was alarming, indicating lack of personal protective equipment (PPEs) at hospitals.
On another note, she said teachers are at the forefront facing hundreds of students at any one time, yet they are not a priority group to be vaccinated.
Apart from that, Soo said the naming of Covid-19 clusters and locations had affected neighbouring shops and businesses which were unexposed to Covid-19 to be shunned by the public.
Citing the example of an exposure location such as Aiman Mall, which is a standalone shopping complex at Samarahan, Soo said shops locations adjacent to the shopping complex such as KFC, Curry House and Taka Cake House were shown to be located at Aiman Mall causing adverse impact upon the mall.
She gathered the same for SWAG Cluster also known as ICOM Cluster which happened in one workplace resulted in businesses at ICOM Square in Pending here to suffer drastic drop in their sales.
Hence, Soo urged the government to appoint experts and not politicians to manage Covid-19 with knowledge, competence and professionalism. — DayakDaily
