Sabah CM asks state police to continue enforcing MCO at areas with more Covid-19 cases

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (pic) is asking state police to continue enforcing, if not tighten, movement control at areas with more Covid-19 cases, especially districts that have been red zoned earlier.

He said if police were planning to go easy on the public travelling in larger groups in a vehicle or inter-districts, he hopes they will still maintain a high level of control at high risk areas.

He was responding to questions about police in Sabah no longer stopping people with more than two people in a vehicle and those travelling inter-districts following Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s announcement of the conditional movement control order (MCO) recently.

“It depends on the police if they want to go with this, then they do what they have to, but we request for them to enforce control at high risk areas,” Shafie said during a press conference here.

He said for Sabah, it is still observing phase four of the movement control order (MCO) under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act.

Shafie said Sabah will only reveal it’s "new deal" for the gradual reopening of sectors on May 12 when phase four of the MCO ends.

He reiterated the need for the state government to have proper planning and implementation systems when more sectors are being reopened.

Every ministry has to give their input on how to manage and control sectors under their jurisdiction when they are being opened up, he said.

On Sabahan students returning from other states, Shafie said much coordination is needed between state and federal authorities.

He said the number of students here returning to their hometowns are only about 3,000, but those wanting to come back to Sabah are about 11,000.

“So we need to see how to get them back because if the airlines want to fly in and out with full capacity, how is that possible when we only have about 3,000 here flying out and about 11,000 wanting to fly in,” he said.

Earlier in the event, Shafie witnessed the handing over of dividends and livelihood allowances amounting more than RM1mil to participants of the Sabah Land Development Board.

He also received various forms of donations in forms of masks, ventilators on behalf of the state government from several contributors for the fight against Covid-19.