COVID: Inter-zone travel still not allowed in Sarawak - Uggah

KUCHING, March 3 -- Inter-zone travel in Sarawak is still banned, said Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

He said the order is still enforced till March 15 unless an individual obtains permission from the police.

“Following the announcement (at the federal level) yesterday, today there has been a lot of confusion.

So, we must clarify that inter-district movement including movement to different zone... the restrictions are still in place,” he said during the daily COVID-19 media conference here today.

Yesterday, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the ban on interstate travel throughout the country would remain while inter-district travel was allowed except for Sabah beginning March 5 till March 18.

Sarawak recorded 139 new COVID-19 cases and one death today.

Meanwhile, Uggah said the Sarawak state government also agreed to allow foreign workers to enter the state effective March 1 adding that the decision was made based on requests by the industries that require foreign workers.

“Foreign worker entry is subjected to the standard operating procedure (SOP) set by the SDMC,” he said.

Also, Uggah said Sarawak agreed to implement the Recalibration Programme for illegal immigrants in the state.

He said the programme included two components, firstly the return recalibration where foreign workers return to their home country voluntarily and the labour recalibration, which is to legalise illegals by turning them into employable workers and subject to conditions set.

The programme guidelines have been prepared by the Sarawak Immigration Department and the Sarawak Labour Department and will begin from March 15 till June 30 this year.

 -- BERNAMA