By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, March 12: The Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) may be looking at temporarily suspending its flight route to Bintulu from Bandar Seri Begawan as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah indicated a possibility that the foreign airline may be reviewing its flights flying into Sarawak.
“There will be an announcement by RBA from Bandar Seri Begawan to Bintulu (soon). But, I will wait for the details of the announcement.
“That might be the only one (route) affected,” he told a press conference when asked by reporters whether there would be any flight cancellation by airlines to Sarawak after attending the Sarawak Tourism steering committee meeting at a hotel here.
Among those present at the meeting were Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Sebastian Ting, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee, Sarawak Tourism Board’s (STB) chief executive officer (CEO) Sharzede Datu Salleh Askor and various tourism industry players.
Meanwhile, a 53-year-old Bruneian was tested positive for Covid-19 after returning from Kuala Lumpur to Brunei via Miri recently.
The man had reportedly attended a mosque gathering at Masjid Seri Petaling and then flew to Miri Airport on March 3.
Subsequently, he travelled back to Brunei by land via the Sungai Tujuh immigration checkpoint, some 35 kilometres north of Miri city.
On March 6, he travelled again to Miri to do some shopping.
In the meantime, the State Disaster Relief Committee said it was tracing passengers who were seated near the Bruneian man on an AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Miri on March 3.
The committee pointed out that it was also looking out for Sarawakians who had also gone to the Seri Petaling mosque gathering where the Bruneian man had attended.
The State Disaster Committee urges Sarawakians who had attended the mosque event to immediately report themselves to the nearest government hospital or clinic.—DayakDaily
