By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Mar 20: The federal government has decided to use armed forces personnel to assist the police in roadblocks to ensure that the public fully complies with the Movement Control Order (MCO) by staying at home.
The decision was announced by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob after attending a meeting on the update of Covid-19 during a press conference in Putrajaya which was broadcast live by Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) this morning.
“The meeting has decided that armed forces personnel will to be deployed this Sunday (March 22) to assist the police in roadblocks to ensure that the people are abiding by the MCO.
“There are some people who fail to follow the MCO from the federal government. Some people are playing at the children’s playground, parents bring their kids out in the public, groups of friends walking at certain public places, people eating at certain restaurants and some are even jogging at the park.
“During this period, the police can enforce the law to arrest those who do not follow the MCO,” Ismail Sabri said to a press conference in Putrajaya.
On the use of military personnel, Ismail Sabri explained that under Section 5 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, the Health Minister had the power to appoint any agencies of the federal government if needed to control the spread of infectious diseases during emergency.
Ismail Sabri denied that the defence ministry was looking to impose a curfew by sending military personnel and tankers to neighbourhood areas.
He clarified that videos being circulated on social media were fake news, and reminded people not to believe in unverified information and videos being circulated as it could cause more panic among the populace.
He also urged some 4,000 individuals who attended the tabligh gathering at a mosque at Sri Petaling last month who have yet to report themselves for Covid-19 checkup to come forward.
He stressed that the police had identified them and hoped that they can come forward voluntarily.
He added the police might visit the house of every one of those 4,000 individuals if they did not report themselves to the nearest clinic or hospital for Covid-19 testing. —DayakDaily
