KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said that he will see for himself the situation at Semuja Immigration Detention Depot in Serian.
This followed the occurrence of three-digit positive cases reported at the depot which contributed to the spike of cases in the state.
“I will visit Semuja. It seems that there is a weakness (at the depot). Maybe there are issues of compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs),” he told reporters after presenting the Minor Rural Project (MRP) grants to eight organisations in Satok at the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Satok headquarters today.
He said the number of cases has shot up at the depot, whereas the ones in Kuching, Sibu, and Miri have decreased.
“Therefore, we need to look at the situation there,” he said.
On March 18, Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said a new cluster called Semuja Immigration Depot Cluster has been identified by the State Health Department.
The cluster was detected when the Serian Division Health Department screened Immigration Department staff members and detainees at the depot after receiving information on a positive case among the illegal immigrants deported through the Tebedu checkpoint at Sarawak-Kalimantan border last March 11.
Today Uggah said as of March 20, some 704 individuals have been screened and 245 of them tested positive. All are detainees, while 459 staff members of the Immigration Department and close contacts have tested negative.
