By William Isau
SIBU, Feb 10: The public has been cautioned not to set off fireworks which compromise the safety of others during the Chap Goh Mei celebration on Feb 15.
Sibu Crime Prevention and Community Safety Division chief, DSP Ariffin Bahar told reporters after a standard operating procedure (SOP) monitoring at the central market here today that letting off light fireworks for family members is acceptable.
“We will not hesitate to take action against those involved in letting off excessive fireworks which last from half-an-hour to one hour and which might go out of control,” he warned.
Ariffin said the authorities can take action under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958 which carries a penalty of seven years’ jail and liable to a fine of RM10,000.
He said the police would carry out an integrated operation on Feb 14 and 15 to ensure that the public will not be involved in any excessive fireworks activity.
“Unifor (Unit For Other Religions) has set the SOP guideline for the Chap Goh Mei celebration where lion dance is allowed from 7am to 10pm outside the premises only. The lion dance troupe must not consist of more than 12 people who have been fully vaccinated,” he said.
He urged lion dance troupes performing for Chap Goh Mei to register with the Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee first before they are allowed to carry out the activity.
On the SOP monitoring at the central market, he said the outcome was much better than the one at Sibu Jaya two days ago where 14 individuals were compounded RM1,000 each.
The operation involved 27 officers from the police department, Sibu Municipal Council, Civil Defence Force, People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela), State Security Council (MKN) and Immigration Department.
“Our operation this morning focussed on compliance with the SOP which was set and updated by the State Disaster Management Committee on January 4, 2022. Only one person was compounded for not wearing his mask properly. On the first floor of the market, we found that the compliance rate was 100 per cent as the people had followed the guidelines such as wearing of face mask, physical distancing and had scanned their (attendance into) MySejahtera,” he said. — DayakDaily
