KUCHING, May 19: Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin announces that express boat and regional bus services will resume after June 1, 2020.
Lee said this is a decision made by State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) yesterday.
“Recognising the threat of coronavirus from recurring and spreading in the State, the Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee after thorough deliberation in its meeting on May 18, 2020 has decided to allow express boat and regional bus services resume operation in Sarawak only after June 1, 2020.
“During this period, it is advisable for all express boat and regional bus operators to make the necessary preparations based on the established Standard Operating Procedures before resuming their services.
“These include sanitising their buses, taking swab test for their drivers, reorganising seating arrangements in the buses for social distancing purposes and getting ready other apparatus such as handheld thermometer, hand sanitiser and face mask.
“It is emphasised that these steps are taken to protect everyone especially the bus drivers and passengers in the effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the State,” said Lee in a press statement today.
The Senadin assemblyman said the State Government understands and acknowledges the predicament faced by the public and all the industry players including express boat and regional bus operators where he took the opportunity to thank them for their cooperation and understanding on the government’s actions to curb the covid-19 pandemic.
He believed that the concerted actions taken by the Sarawak Government with the full cooperation from stakeholders including the express boat and regional bus operators had borne encouraging and positive results as shown in the last four days where there was no new reported cases and all zones in Sarawak are now categorised as either green or yellow zone.
“Presently, all travellers between districts in Sarawak are required to obtain approval from the Police.
“This is to minimise physical contacts between people from different districts to stop the spread of coronavirus.
“In this connection, the Government has also made a ruling to minimise the number of people congregating in the coming festivals i.e. Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Gawai Dayak,” said Lee.— DayakDaily
