By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, May 22: Sarawak will not see an end to the Covid-19 pandemic until its leaders step up and demonstrate leadership by example.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Sarawak secretary Andrew Lo said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has inadvertently admitted that there has been loose enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) when the latter announced that tighter enforcement will follow.
“While the MTUC certainly does not condone any non-compliance of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and MCO, we must question the many cases of ministers and VIPs (very important persons) that appear not to follow these restrictions and got off with a slap of the wrist, at most.
“We even have a Minister that was out of the country for weeks. When questions are raised, the usual response is that they have been granted special exemptions,” he said in a statement today.
Lo further noted that Members of Parliaments (MPs) and Ministers are amongst the first to be vaccinated ahead of frontliners yet Parliament was suspended.
He also said aspiring candidates to the State Election continue to make their rounds campaigning under the pretext of distributing food aid or drain maintenance.
“We can’t help but notice that the situation rapidly worsened after the frontliners were criticised and labelled as ‘smartasses’ for enforcing the SOP on special invitees to a year end party.
“It is incredulous decisions like this that left Malaysians especially workers with a sense of despair. Workers are at the front line fighting the pandemic as health care workers, law enforcers and those in the essential and exempted services. They are working under tremendous stress and high risk of being infected with the virus.
“Until and unless our leaders step up and demonstrate leadership by example, we do not see an end to the pandemic any time soon,” he added.
Lo went on to say that the Sarawakian leaders have lamented the people ignoring the SOPs even to the point that those who are tested positive refused to show up at quarantine centres.
“Apart from that, people in Bintulu have been warned not to rent their property to outsiders.
“If this is not an infringement of our constitutional right to own and profit of private property, I don’t know what is,” he pointed out. — DayakDaily
