Stepping up safety measures

Twenty firefighters spent 1.5 hours on sanitising the Precinct 8 wet market in Putrajaya. — MOHD SAHAR MISNI/The Star

THE Putrajaya Fire and Rescue Department has been increasing disinfection exercises within Putrajaya since the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit Malaysia last month.

“Our team has conducted about 15 sanitisation operations that were requested specifically by government agencies, schools and the public, ” said fire station head Che Shaari Abdullah.

“Since Sept 28, we have sanitised buildings and quarters belonging to agencies such as the Housing and Local Government Ministry, Election Commission, Public Service Department and Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, as well as Sekolah Agama Presint 9, SK Putrajaya Presint 8 (1) and SMK Putrajaya Presint 8 (1).

“We disinfect areas that are deemed as high risk by the Putrajaya Disaster Management Committee for virus infection, and as advised by the Putrajaya District Health Office, ” he added.

Some of the disinfected buildings had been visited by Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, who tested positive for Covid-19 and had since been discharged from hospital after a full recovery.

Che Shaari, who also heads the Putrajaya Fire and Rescue Department’s sanitisation team, said they had been carrying out disinfection exercises since the first wave of the pandemic started in March.

“We have several types of disinfection, including scheduled and special requests. The scheduled ones are carried out at public places such as the two markets in Putrajaya, MyFarm agricultural market and Sentral Bus Station.

“We sanitise places where the public tends to gather, as a preventive measure and to assure them that these places are safe, ” he said.

Che Shaari spoke to the media prior to a joint disinfection exercise with Putrajaya Corporation (PPj), Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) and Alam Flora at the Precinct 8 wet market in Putrajaya.

A total of 20 personnel sanitised the market, which houses some 45 stalls and shops in a 200sq m space spanning two floors.

The exercise took about 1.5 hours to complete.

The market is located near SK Putrajaya Presint 8 (1), which had been ordered by Education Ministry to close from Oct 9 to Oct 16 after a confirmed Covid-19 case was reported at the school.

Furthermore, the Education Ministry had since announced that educational institutions in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya would be closed from Oct 14 to 27 as part of the conditional movement control order (MCO).

The Precinct 8 wet market, which operates from 6am to 2pm during the conditional MCO, was closed earlier to accommodate the sanitisation exercise.

PPj president Datuk Muhammad Azmi Mohd Zain, who was briefly present to observe the sanitisation of the market, said the full details of where future disinfection exercises would take place would be announced by the Prime Minister.