Some recreational boats still defy Movement Control Order

SEPANG, March 23 -- Despite the Movement Control Order (MCO), there are still operators of recreational boats engaged in fishing activities along the Straits of Malacca who continue to defy it.

Deputy director of safety and surveillance First Admiral Maritime Che Engku Suhaima Che Engku Daik said this should not happen, and the marine community should comply with the MCO announced by the government as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection.

He said only licensed fishermen are allowed to go out to the sea while those involved in fishing activities and collecting mussels during low tide are not permitted to do so.

"I can see such activities (fishing and collecting mussels) along the beaches of Morib beach, Sepang beach and Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan.

"They come out in groups and bring small children to collect mussels along the beach,” he told Bernama during the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) aerial surveillance exercise to execute  the MCO here today.

Che Engku Suhaimi said the MMEA had to use loudspeakers to warn these people and ask them to go back home. 

"Alhamdulillah, all of them cooperated well,” he said, adding action would be taken against any non-essential service boat for breaching the MCO.

Meanwhile, Bernama also participated in the MMEA air surveillance and found the stretch of the coastal area of the Straits of Malacca under control

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that Malaysia would be placed under a nationwide movement control order from March 18 to 31 to curb the COVID-19 outbreak.

-- BERNAMA