By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, March 25: All international travellers entering Sarawak via Kuching International Airport and Miri Airport will have to register using the MySejahtera app upon arrival following the reopening of borders on April 1.
According to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, international visitors entering Sarawak will be categorised according to their country of origin.
For Singaporeans coming to Sarawak, they are required to do a pre-departure test and upon arrival at KIA or the Miri Airport, they only have to register with MySejahtera and will be exempted from performing an arrival test.
For the second group of overseas travellers from the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and other countries who are transiting from Singapore into Sarawak, apart from registering with MySejahtera, they are required to do a pre-departure test two days before the date of traveling and upon arrival, they are required to do a RTK-Antigen test at the point of entry.
Uggah who is also Deputy Premier gave assurance that the private company engaged by SDMC to be stationed at KIA or Miri Airport will produce fast RTK-Antigen results so international travellers will not be held up for long at the airports.
He said if this group of travellers were to be tested negative for Covid-19, they may immediately leave the airport and head to their destination. Should they test positive for Covid-19, there are standard operating procedures in place to handle the situation.
For domestic passengers from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu or other states of Peninsular Malaysia, all Covid-19 preventive requirements involving entry into Sarawak will no longer be enforced.
On the SOPs of border crossing through land by Indonesian and Bruneian travellers, Uggah said Sarawak is still in the midst of discussion with the two countries for a decision.
“Pending the decision, the SOPs which we are practicing now will continue (to be effective),” he said to the media while visiting KIA to check on the entry point preparations for the reopening of the State’s borders.
He hoped a consensus may be reached between Sarawak and the two countries on the SOPs as there is mutual hope for economic activities to recover.
“We hope our lives will be back to near normal, not normal yet. While we are enjoying the (current amount of) freedom, we must also be vigilant and take care because the war is not over yet,” said Uggah. — DayakDaily
