Police: Road closures in PJ an inconvenient but necessary measure

PETALING JAYA: The inconvenience caused by the five roads closed to traffic here during the MCO here a necessary measure to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal said eight teams here are in operation to monitor compliance to standard operating procedures during the MCO implemented from Jan 13-26.

He said eight teams would focus on crime prevention patrol at the same time.

"We currently have four roadblocks and five road closures enforced in Petaling Jaya and are planning to add another five roadblocks as well as two more road closures.

"Currently, we have 300 police and Armed Forces personnel manning these roadblocks and once we have the additions, we expect to have from 700 to 800 personnel on duty," he said in a statement on Wednesday (Jan 13).

He said he was aware of public outcry over road closures, especially on Persiaran Mahogany, Persiaran Jati and Persiaran Sungai Buloh here.

He apologised for the inconvenience but explained that statistics showed that Covid-19 cases in Damansara and Sungai Buloh were at critical levels.

"We are not doing this for fun. It was a tough but necessary decision," he said, urging everyone to cooperate with the MCO.

"We succeeded last year and we can succeed again this year," he said.