DELIVERING packages, parcels and foodstuff directly to the units of residents in high-rise buildings is against the Covid-19 standard operating procedure.
Instead, such items must be dropped off at an area designated by the building management for self-pickup.
Delivery personnel had been found bringing items straight to the recipients without knowing that they were breaking the rule, said Housing and Local Government Ministry strata management division enforcement unit head Insp Mohammad Izzat Hassan.
“Courier service personnel are not allowed to go up to apartment units in stratified residential buildings to make deliveries.
“Some management of such buildings in Subang Jaya have allowed delivery riders and courier service personnel to go up to the specific unit to make the delivery, which is against the SOP,” he said, adding that this practice was not only a health risk but also a threat to the residents’ security.
Insp Mohammad Izzat said people’s movement had to be controlled to curb the spread of the virus, while being vigilant with regard to criminal activities.
“The security guards may not know if the person claiming to make a delivery is being truthful, or a criminal in disguise,” he said.
He was speaking with reporters after heading a team to check on SOP compliance at a residential high-rise in Petaling Jaya. The group was accompanied by Petaling Jaya City Council’s (MBPJ) Commissioner of Building (COB) unit.
The enforcement team has been collaborating with local authorities to conduct random checks on high-rise properties since the start of the lockdown on June 1 to ensure SOP compliance.
Insp Mohammad Izzat said that although building management offices might have the approval letter to function as an essential service, the police and local authorities would still go to the ground to check on compliance.
On adherence to SOP at high-rise residences, he said it was generally good but there was confusion over how delivery and courier services could operate within such premises.
Insp Mohammad Izzat said no compounds for SOP violations were given so far at stratified buildings, specifically because the violations were due to confusion.
“Other aspects such as no physical meetings, closing of public areas such as gymnasium and swimming pool were adhered to at all the properties we checked to date.
“However, some compounds were issued to the management for general SOP violation, namely for allowing visitors and employees in without scanning the MySejahtera app,” he said, adding that the number of compounds issued were not available yet.
MBPJ COB director Jayanthi Kupusamy said they had identified 10 stratified residential buildings to be included in the first phase of random SOP-compliance checks.
She said there were 1,264 stratified residential schemes in Petaling Jaya managed by developers, joint management bodies, management committees or management agents, under the city council’s purview.
“We are checking two aspects, which are general SOP compliance such as the use of face mask and observing physical distancing, and stratified building SOP compliance which entails providing the tools for temperature checks, registration of visitors and the MySejahtera QR code.
“We are also checking their operations approval letter and if they have correctly registered all their employees.
“There are instances where names of residents were included in the list, which is not allowed.
“I hope the exercise will increase awareness and serve as a lesson to other stratified management schemes to abide by the SOP and help the country flatten the Covid-19 infection curve,” she said.
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