By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, June 21: Military personnel will be roped in to assist in expediting Covid-19 vaccination process in the rural areas.
According to Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, this has been agreed upon by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Sabri Ismail Yaakob who visited Sarawak during the weekend to especially look into the issue of vaccinating the rural folks.
During the meeting last Saturday (June 19, 2021), Masing said he had put forth two requests to Ismail Sabri.
“The first request involves military personnel’s assistance to expedite the vaccination process in the rural areas.
“The second request involves the Baleh area, where we need their assistance in delivery of vaccines to four remote villages including Long Singut, Long Busang, Long Anai and Sang Anau,” Masing told DayakDaily.
Apart from Kapit and Belaga, Masing believed that the services of the military personnel are also needed in transporting vaccines to Ba’kelalan.
Masing, who is also Baleh assemblyman, said with the help of the military, vaccination in the rural areas will be accelerated.
“We want to make sure that by the end of August, the rural population will be protected by at least the first dose,” said Masing.
He said apart from helping to transport vaccines, military personnel are also needed to safeguard border security especially by keeping an eye on illegal trails known to the foreigners.
“We need the assistance of the military in safeguarding our borders. There are a lot of jalan tikus (illegal border crossing trails) along the borders. And there are a lot of illegal immigrants trying to make the crossings each day.
“Before Covid-19, it was very common for them to cross the borders to seek employment. Now with Covid-19 issue at hand, we must make sure that there is no illegal crossing because we don’t know if they are carriers of the virus (Coronavirus),” said Masing. — DayakDaily
