KUCHING, May 4: The federal government views seriously the position taken by the various state governments in refusing to execute Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
“Their actions are not founded on lawful authority and are contrary to the policy of the federal government, all the more so in view of the fact that the federal government policy has already been made into law and enforceable throughout the country,” said Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Azmin Ali in a press statement today.
He insisted that all states in Malaysia should adhere to federal decision to implement CMCO as federal health law prevails over the provisions of other written laws in respect of the prevention and control of infectious diseases.
The Gombak MP urged all state governments to co-operate in executing the federal government’s decision to regenerate the economy falling which the state governments may face legal action from various industry players.
“The government takes note of the media statements issued by various industry associations including the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers and the Malay Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia in respect of their call that there should be no direct restrictions from State Governments to stop companies to resume their operations from 4 May 2020.
“Should the state governments refuse to co-operate in implementing Act 342 which has been gazetted into law enforceable throughout the country, the state governments may face the possibility of legal action from various parties particularly the industry players,” warned Azmin.
He stressed that the regulations of the CMCO effective today, Inter alla, stipulated activities that are prohibited during the CMCO period.
Meanwhile, Azmin also refuted the allegation that the government restarted the economy hastily is “false and baseless”.
“The government had undertaken incremental measures to open up the economy from March 18 to April 28 through the MCO Stages 1 to 3, mandating compliance with health requirements.
“These careful and prudent actions have yielded good results particularly in terms of the increase In the opening of the economic sectors without jeopardlsing the government’s efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19.”
He held that the Government has implemented the MCO In accordance with the provisions of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 [Act 342] to ensure the effective control of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The implementation of the MCO involves the entire country, including the states in Peninsular Malaysia as well as the Federal Territories, Sarawak and Sabah.
“This decision takes into account the importance and imperatives of the health and well-being of the rakyat and the need to regenerate the economy.”
He also stressed that the government has made decisions to restart the economy based on the benchmarks of the World Health Organisation (WHO) which outlines six main criteria: safety control, movement control, capacity of the health system, protection of high-risk groups, new normal practices and community-based preventive measures.
The Government’s initiative to address the Covid-19 pandemic is recognised as one of the best in the world, he added.
“Our national health system has the capacity and capabilities to undertake efforts to protect the health of the rakyat and to curb the spread of Covid-19. — DayakDaily
