By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Sept 5: Public swimming pools have yet to open its doors even though the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has allowed its operation beginning yesterday (Sept 4) as the local councils are still finalising the standard operating procedures (SOP) and guidelines.
Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng explained that the council met yesterday to go through and discuss the SOP for public swimming pools.
“But we are still discussing the SOP and guidelines to enable a smooth opening up of swimming pools.
“This is because, if we implement the existing SOP, only 15 persons are allowed to use the facility at one time,” he clarified in a Live Talk Session with the community on his Facebook page today.
Wee pointed out that certain restrictions in the current SOP could cause problems with monitoring as well as compliance enforcement.
“There would be some problems in managing the number of people waiting to use the swimming pool.
“We don’t want to have a lot of problems or issues later if we open up the facility now only to close later and having to reopen again,” he said in responding to a question from a member of the public.
Wee promised to follow up with the Ministry of Youth and Sports on the SOP and to see whether the guidelines can be adjusted or relaxed to suit current situation for better implementation.
“Let us finalise the details first before announcing the opening (of the public swimming pools in Kuching),” he added.
Meanwhile, SDMC has on Thursday (Sept 3) announced that all private and public swimming pools either in hotels, apartments, or common places in Sarawak will be allowed to operate starting Sept 4.—DayakDaily
