MIRI: The Miri Wireless Walk Traders Association has called upon the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to declare a movement control order (MCO) in Miri city in view of the increase in Covid-19 cases here.
The association’s chairman Mohamad Abdullah Jamin said the increase in the number of Covid-19 patients in Miri was very serious, adding that SDMC should enforce the MCO here so that the movement of the people can be restricted until the daily statistics are controlled and reduced.
“We, the traders, want the committee to make a drastic decision on the MCO in order to curb the spread of Covid-19 among the people of Miri,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“The committee can declare an MCO period of two weeks to control the public and make them stay at home,” he urged.
He said it was better for SDMC to enforce the MCO so that all sectors in Miri would be closed for the time being.
He also said that up until now, the sales operations of Miri Wireless Walk (MWW) traders had been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, whereby many members of the public dared not visit the area.
He pointed out that the sales of food and beverages in the MWW area was greatly affected as many people did not dare to sit, relax, and eat within the area.
“There are also MWW traders who do not dare to come and conduct business here, despite the practising of standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as social distancing, use of face masks, and provision of temperature scanners,” said Mohamad.
Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, MWW was very lively, especially at night and on the weekends, he pointed out.
He urged SDMC to take into account the people’s interest first and break the chain of Covid-19 transmissions.
“For instance, the full lockdown announced by the government in March last year succeeded in controlling the spread of Covid-19.
“At the same time, I request for all traders in Sarawak be given the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible after the frontliners and the elders,” said Mohamad.
