KUCHING, Apr 3: The State Disaster Management Committee .(SDMC) will be holding its daily updates and discussion meeting through video conferencing.
Its chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the committee members were also keeping in touch with each other through their mobile phones.
He gave his assurance that the committee will still be serving the state as a number of the committee members, including himself, were now undergoing a home quarantine order by the state health department.
“Please be assured there is no let-up in our joint efforts to fight this dreaded and highly infectious disease.
“We are holding our daily morning meetings through video conferencing now as we cannot leave our homes.
“It is still the same meeting although we do this now from our own homes,” he said in a statement here today.
Uggah asserted that the SDMC meeting using video conferencing was initiated by the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) and the approach was used for the meeting since this week.
Meanwhile, Uggah disclosed that for the SDMC meeting, he was assisted by Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Aaron Dagang and two deputy state secretaries Datuk Seri Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki and Datuk Ik Pahon Joyik.
Also participating in the SDMC meeting were members of the police, armed forces, National Security Council, Royal Customs, Sarawak Public Communications Unit (UKAS), Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and State Security and Enforcement Unit.
There were also representatives from the Information Department, Immigration Department, Health Departments as well as those from the resident’s and district offices.
Uggah added the SDMC secretariat at Wisma Bapa Malaysia was operating around the clock.
He said that the respective divisional level committees were also still operating.
He added that whatever official statements or information that the public needed would be released through statement instead of the daily media conference broadcast live by UKAS and in news items over RTM, Astro Awani and Bernama TV.
“We have to play safe. I hope all will play safe by staying at home in this difficult time.
“We all have to do our parts to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19,” Uggah stressed.
Uggah also advised the people to continue to abide by whatever directives and advice given by the federal and state governments in particular on the on-going Movement Control Order (MCO).
Those include keeping high standard of personal hygiene, practicing social distancing, crowd minimising and washing of hands frequently with soap and water and using hand sanitiser whenever necessary.—DayakDaily
