Ampang businesses, worksites penalised for violating SOP

Worksites in Ampang being inspected during the joint operation headed by MPAJ.

A JOINT operation to check on compliance of Covid-19 standard operating procedures during the movement control order period saw stern action taken against several businesses in Ampang.

The operation, led by Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ), involved officers from the Gombak and Hulu Langat district health offices, police and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

MPAJ president Mohd Fauzi Mohd Yatim said CIDB officers issued stop-work orders for two worksites for failing to provide adequate accommodation for workers, among other offences under the CIDB Act 1994 (Act 520).

He added that four compounds were issued for various offences after checking eight premises comprising factories and building sites.

“Several operators failed to enforce physical distancing, wearing of face masks as well as failing to take the temperature of workers, ” he said.

Fauzi said such checks were vital to send the message that the authorities were serious in breaking the chain of Covid-19 infections.

“There are premises that take the easy way out by not observing the SOPs, but overall most do, ” he said.

Fauzi added that as cases were increasing in Ampang as well as in the whole of Selangor, residents and business operators must realise the importance of such protocols.

“They should be consistent in carrying out sanitisation or disinfection at their premises, especially high-risk touchpoints such as door handles, lifts and escalator railings.”

MPAJ’s Covid-19 task force has disinfected 1,331 locations around the municipality as well as checked SOP compliance since the start of the MCO.

High touchpoint areas such as playgrounds, bus stops, commercial areas and markets have been undergoing frequent inspections and cleaning.

Checks by MPAJ at 1,879 premises between April 1 and Nov 30 found only 36.8% of businesses fully complied with the National Security Council’s SOP.