KUCHING, Apr 14: Bintulu people appear to have forgotten that the Movement Control Order is on, opines its MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, observing a high number of traffic on the road and that various enterprises seemed to have gone back to normal operations.
“Looking at disinfection works in town today, the people of Bintulu seems to be too relaxed now with the movement control order (MCO). Have they forgotten we still have a pandemic on our hands? Do they know they are in a Yellow Zone?” asked Tiong in a statement issued here today.
“This cannot hide the trend of increasing cases of confirmed cases within Bintulu. I strongly urge everyone again to strictly abide by the MCO. Otherwise, you will render our efforts for the past month pointless,” he said.
Tiong, who is president of Progressive Democratic Party said, many people were also questioning the decision by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) for allowing certain sectors now to operate.
“The only sure-fire resistance to the pandemic now is to continue social distancing. Everyone needs to stay at home during the MCO. Otherwise, a new wave of infections might break out.
“Why not emulate the Brunei government’s total lockdown, an initiative which had kept the kingdom from recording new cases for eight days now, with the cumulative number of positive diagnoses stable at 136 cases. Even then, the country’s Ministry of Health had not relaxed any conditions. Therefore, we must keep up with this country. Once the pandemic has passed, we will all work hard together to rebuild the national economy,” said Tiong.
He related his experiences of checking several checkpoints and found that the commuters all came up with various unreasonable excuses when questioned by the police.
“The public’s disregard for the MCO’s provisions will be the main cause of new outbreaks of the pandemic. If that happens, it would be too late to say, ‘I told you so’. If you have any symptoms at all, even a little, please go get tested immediately and self-isolate yourself.
“Obeying the MCO is the most important task you and I can do now. The military and police front liners must continue their hard work to strictly enforce the MCO to control the movement of people and vehicles in Bintulu. For good reasons, tell them to return home if they have no valid reason to be out or risk arrest,” added Tiong. —DayakDaily
