KUCHING, Apr 30: Two immediate family members are allowed to travel in one car to buy food, daily essentials as well as seek healthcare and medical services in Sarawak starting today.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas stated that Sarawak has decided to follow this latest national ruling gazetted for phase four of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
“Sarawak will abide by this latest change in standard operation procedure (SOP) with immediate effect (Apr 30).
“We will now allow two immediate members to travel in a car for the purpose of buying food, medicine, daily necessities, dietary supplements or any other goods from any provider of essential services or to seek healthcare and medical services,” he said in a statement today.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri announced yesterday (Apr 29) that the government has given some leeway to the SOP of phase four of the MCO by allowing two people to travel in one vehicle, beginning yesterday.
However, he said they must be people from one family living in the same house and the movement was to buy food and daily essential items.
Permission for the movement for the purpose of buying daily essentials or to seek healthcare or medical services outside a 10-kilometre radius is now permittee if the items or services are not available within 10 km of the individual’s home.
Meanwhile, SDMC did not immediately impose the latest change in SOP as Uggah said he had not received any official information from Putrajaya yet.
Uggah thus explained that Sarawak has to be extremely careful when making any crucial decision at this very critical time for they can have momentous and far reaching impact in the state.
“We are, after all, still vigorously fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is all the more important in view of the many fake news continuing to make their rounds in the social media,” he added.
Sarawak had in the third phase of MCO allowed two persons to travel in a vehicle or motorcycle in rural areas especially to facilitate farmers in their farm works such as harvesting rice, oil palm or tapping rubber.—DayakDaily
