By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Jan 16: Community leaders and village headmen in the longhouses have been empowered to play a pivotal role to curb the transmission of Covid-19 in the rural areas.
State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said community leaders and village headmen especially those residing along the border between Sarawak and Indonesia to be on high alert especially on the entry of illegal immigrants.
“We want them to take part and play a very important role in the longhouses and in the kampung (villages).
“First, for them to monitor the security, welfare and the health of the respective villagers.
“We want them to advise the villagers in their respective villages that if they (villagers) have exhibited symptoms of Covid-19, they need to report themselves to the nearest health clinic.
“And the community leaders have the right to lodge a police report to the police in the event that they found out that there are illegal immigrants in their areas.
“Hence, action can be taken against the illegal immigrants,” he said during a press conference after announcing the latest situation of the Covid-19 in Sarawak today.
Uggah who is also Deputy Chief Minister said community leaders and village headmen have the power to prevent strangers from entering their villages if they are not familiar with their backgrounds.
Thus, he reminded village headmen and community leaders to play an active role especially during the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sarawak in order to break the chain of the Covid-19 infection.
At the same time, he also reminded all the citizens to abide by the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the government.
Earlier, Uggah who is also Second Finance Minister announced that Sarawak reported 69 new cases of Covid-19 today.
He noted 46 cases out of the 69 cases reported were derived from the Pasai Cluster from a longhouse in Sibu. —DayakDaily
