By Jaythaleela K
MIRI, March 18: A total of 43 warnings were issued by the Miri City Council (MCC) to various vendors and premises which failed to comply with the Movement Control Order (MCO) today, the first day of its implementation.
This was revealed by Miri mayor Adam Yii during a brief visit to the ‘Old Folks Street’ and Miri Times Square today.
“Being the first day of enforcing the Movement Control Order, there are understandably some confusion and miscommunication. In order to minimise these issues, I went to brief the council enforcement and explained to them the importance of their role and thanked them in this fight against the novel coronavirus Covid-19,” said Yii.
“Covid-19 has done enormous damage to China, especially Wuhan, and other countries like Iran and Italy. Partial ‘lockdown’ means all non-essential congregation of people are to be banned except for essential services and goods like medical service and sale of food items. As for coffee shops, cafes and food outlets, notwithstanding that they are part of Malaysian culture, they are now not allowed to have customers to dine in, and only takeaways are allowed,” he added.
Yii highlighted three main points that MCC would focus on: prohibition of sales of live animals in markets or ‘tamu’ premises; food and drink stalls operators are permitted to carry out their business in the market but only confined to takeaway orders as wating and drinking at the stalls is prohibited; and for bigger markets, there must be a rotation system used by opening certain sections or stalls at a time to prevent a big crowd in the market.
On his visit to ‘Old Folks Street’ and Miri Times Square, Yii observed most of the vendors and premises were complying with the Movement Control Order, but some were not complying.
“But we got good response and understanding from them after we explained to them the reasons and rationale for the present order,” he said.
Yii also urged the public to exercise self-restraint and stay at home and not to venture out unless absolutely necessary.
“If the Movement Control Order is successful, then we will be able to return to normal life sooner. If it is not successful, the next logical step by the government will probably be full lockdown, meaning more like curfew and movement of people is strictly prohibited,” he said.
The Movement Control Order is expected to have an adverse impact on business operators and the public, but for the sake of public health and safety, he expressed trust that all will understand, cooperate and contribute to the control of Covid-19 in the world and in Miri in particular. — DayakDaily
